Most Unlikely of Places
by Margaritaville08
Summary: The Cullen's left Jacob, bringing his imprint with them. 10 years later and no one can believe that Jake is still alive w/out his imprint. When his dad volunteers him to fix up an old house he'll find a companion in the most unlikely of places. JXOC Lmns
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Don't own anything Twilight related

**JPOV**

10 years.

10 years since my reason for living left me.

10 fucking years ago my imprint had been taken away from me…by her own family none the less…people I used to call friends. I could blame them all I wanted but the worst part of it was, she didn't fight to stay. She went oh so willingly without a thought to me or my well-being.

When the Cullen's had decided to take Renesmee with them when they left, I had felt as if my heart had been ripped out of my chest. Since imprinting on her as a baby I had waited 8 years for her to fully mature until I started seeing her as more than just a baby sister. 8 years of baby sitting and dolls and Hannah fucking Montana and I hadn't complained once. I had just stupidly hoped that my undying love and affection would be returned.

As soon as our relationship had progressed to a romantic level I was on cloud nine. Finally after years of waiting, Nessie would return the love that I felt for her. Our relationship had started out slow, under the watchful eye of Edward and after around a year of dating we had started taking physical steps. We were both inexperienced in the sex department and even though the first time had been a little awkward it was rewarding as well. After our first experience was out of the way I thought that everything would get magically better. Oh how wrong I was.

Nessie took her newfound loss of innocence as a sign that she was missing out on something. Craving more of a 'normal' life Nessie had started partying and meeting guys. The first time that she slept with someone else it felt like my heart had been ripped out of my chest. She had come crying back to me confessing her stupidity and undying love for me. It would never happen again, that's what she promised me. Well she lied. Time and time again her discrepancies would tear at my heart and each time I would let her back in.

After eight years, the Cullen's had long overstayed their welcome in Forks. People were noticing that they weren't aging and their moving was inevitable. I had always assumed I would be moving with them, well that wasn't the case. When Bella had approached me she had told me that they were leaving I told her that I needed to tell the pack that I was going too and step down as Alpha…well that's when the shit hit the fan.

_"Jake we are leaving. Our time is well up in Forks and people are starting to notice." Bella said to me when we were out for a run in the woods one day._

_"Yeah I figured that would be happening sometime soon. Ok well can you guys wait like a week? I need to step down as Alpha and hand it over to someone else."_

_I watched as Bella looked around nervously and bit her marble lip. Even as a vampire she still had some human tendencies left. She took a deep breath and looked up at me._

_"Jake you have to understand. We want Renesmee to live as normal of a life as possible. She is half human which means she can experience things that we cant. That includes not having a werewolf for a boyfriend."_

_"What are you trying to say Bella?"_

_"Jake…you're not coming."_

When the Cullen's left with Nessie no one expected me to survive. It was legend that a warrior could not go on living without their imprint. Well wasn't I living goddamn proof that that particular legend was wrong. 10 years I had been living without my imprint…well if you could call it living.

It had been the same everyday for the past decade. I got up, I ate, I phased, I went to work, I ate some more and then I would proceed to get ridiculously drunk to the point where my mind was numb and maybe I would be lucky enough to pass out at a decent hour before doing it all over again.

I knew I was hurting the people around me with my actions but I honestly didn't give a shit. No one could possibly know the physical pain I went through the first 3 years after she was gone. Every movement, every breath was like getting hit in the chest with a sledgehammer. After the third year it got to a point where the pain subsided a little. After 5 years it was at a tolerable level, and now…well now I barely felt it at all. It was just a dull ache in my chest, which could be easily cured by alcohol.

It seemed like a lifetime ago when I was just a normal 16 year old kid. I was scrawny, worked on cars and fantasized about hot girls. Then everything had changed and turned my world upside down. I phased, and then the girl I was in love with married my mortal enemy. Somehow he managed to knock her up, and then of course I have to go imprint on their child.

Of course Bella was ecstatic, this gave her cause not to feel guilty about ripping my heart out of my chest. Everything would be fine and dandy now that I imprinted…on their daughter nonetheless. The imprint did help with letting go of Bella, that and the fact that she was a bloodsucker.

So here I was at the ripe age of 36. Almost 20 years removed from being that scrawny teenage kid whose only problem was asking out the girl he liked. Oh what I would give for the blissful ignorance that came along with being normal. No shape shifters, no bloodsuckers, no imprints, no Alpha duties, just normal stuff.

Even though I was in my mid thirties I still had the body and look of a 25 year old thanks to my constant phasing. Sam had stepped down from his pack about a year after the meeting with the Volturi and the packs had merged, with me as the Alpha. As the years went on more kids started phasing because the Cullen's were still in the area. During the 8 years that followed _her_ birth Jared and Paul had retired from the pack, wanting to age with their imprints. After the Cullen's left, vampire activity in the area was non-existent. Leah had yet to imprint and decided to step down as Beta and try to resume a normal human life. A few years after that Embry imprinted and retired from the pack as well. Quil was still phasing, but would probably stop soon since Claire just turned 20. So that left me, Quil, Seth, Brady, Colin, and the two 'newbie's', Liam and Brent as the current pack.

The pack was the only thing left that kept me somewhat sane. I took my duties as Alpha seriously and was a natural born leader. However I wasn't the person that Seth and the old pack once knew. I used to be a good kid, even after I phased I was always trying to please, I always tried to have a positive playful outlook on life. After _her_, everything changed. I overhead Brady's thoughts once and he thought that I reminded him of post Sam/Emily imprint Leah. I didn't even deny it. I was bitter and angry and unless it was pack business I didn't talk with anyone. I knew that it had put a serious strain on my relationship with everyone, people who used to call me friends now just looked at me with pity.

It didn't help seeing everyone so happy with their imprints and families. They all had moved on and I felt like that Jock from high school who still wears his state champs jacket when he's forty. I don't know why I kept phasing…I think a part of me wished that she would come back, even though the sane part of me knew that was never happening.

So there I was a 36 year old werewolf sitting on my ass by myself in my house. I had just gotten home from work and was starting my nightly ritual of drinking myself into oblivion. I was just about to crack open another beer when I heard a knock on my door.

God damnit couldn't a guy get some peace and quiet in his own house?

I walked over to the door and scowled when I opened it to find Embry on the other side.

"What do you want dude?" He took a step inside and stared me down.

"You been drinking again Jake?" I glared at him.

"Yeah so what. Am I not allowed to drink in my own house?" Embry sighed.

"Billy sent me. He needs your help with something."

Billy. He deserved better than me for a son. I knew this and tried my hardest to help him whatever way I could.

"Come on I'll drive you over."

For once I didn't protest as I followed Embry to his car. Our relationship had been strained since the Cullen's departure. Embry knew about my nightly ritual but couldn't really say anything about it. It's not like the only thing I did was drink and run patrol. I worked full time for an auto design company and was actually making a name for myself, not to mention a three-figure salary. I had quickly moved up the ranks to the point where my designs were put to use.

I had thrown myself into my work after_ she_ left and slaved for hours and hours over my designs to keep my mind off of her. In the beginning a wishful part of my mind also thought that if she ever did come back I would be worthier to her than I previously was. It wasn't until a couple of years after her departure that I turned to booze to fix my problems. The council was shocked that I had actually survived this long with out my imprint and were still pondering how I was still in existence…like I was some sort of freak of nature for still being alive.

When we arrived at my old house Embry and I entered without knocking and found my dad in front of the TV. A smile crossed his wrinkled face when he saw me and I couldn't help but look down ashamed at the son I had been to him over the past decade.

"Jacob I'm glad you came." I only nodded and sat down on the couch.

"Someone new just moved onto the reservation and I volunteered your services to help them fix up their house."

"Um what?" Billy ignored my question and continued rambling.

"The council says that the new owner of the old Hall house is Ryan Fleming. I told them you would go over there tomorrow to start working on the house." He had to be kidding my. I had more important things to be doing on a Saturday, like drinking.

"Dad come on. I have a job, you can't just expect me to drop everything I'm doing to go help some old guy fix up his piece of shit house!"

"Jacob. You are a part of this community, no matter how much you want to deny it. Our community helps each other out and lets face it, you could use something to get you out of this slump you've been in. Be at the house at 12 o'clock sharp tomorrow. This is undebatable son." He nodded to Embry and Embry left. Billy rolled himself over to me and placed his hand on top of my trembling one.

"Son look at me." I complied, shooting daggers in his general direction.

"Jake I'm going to be totally honest. I'm scared out of my mind for you. I can't say that I know what you went through when Renesemee left because I don't. But I know the man my son used to be, and who I see before me now isn't that man. I can't sit here and watch you kill yourself Jake. The drinking, the drugs, it has to stop. I lost your mom too soon; I cant loose you at well. I love you too much." His voice cracked at the end and I couldn't help the shame that flooded me at his words.

"I'm sorry." I managed to whisper. "I'm sorry for everything Dad. I promise I will try my hardest to be better. It's just…everything hurts without her."

"Time heals all things Jake. And all you have is time. It will get better." He reached out and hugged me and when we pulled back he was smiling.

"Now how about you spend the night with your old man, for old times sake."

I couldn't help but grin and nod my head as we settled down to watch the Mariners game.

The next morning Billy woke me up and I cooked him breakfast before heading to the Hall's old place. Regardless of our father son bonding time I was still pissed about having to fix up the house. It was a piece of shit and I pitied the poor schmuck who bought it. I pulled up in my F150 to the condemnable structure. How this place hadn't fell down yet was beyond fathomable and I wondered if it would be easier to just bulldoze the thing and start from scratch. I looked down at the post-it note in my hand.

Ryan Fleming

That was the only information I had about the guy who bought the house. I knocked on the door and was thoroughly surprised when it didn't fall off the hinges. After a minute no one answered so I ran the doorbell. I heard footsteps and my jaw dropped when I saw the person who answered the door.

She must have been in her mid to late twenties and had a pair of the most beautiful green eyes I had ever seen. Her long wavy blonde hair was pulled back in a messy bun and freckles adorned her pale face. She was covered in wet paint and I stopped the smile that wanted to make its way onto my face.

I quickly glanced around, making sure I had the right place and turned back to her. She gave me a hesitant smile.

"Um can I help you with something?" I mentally shook my head.

"I'm sorry I'm looking for a Ryan Fleming. Is he here?" The woman in front of me laughed and quirked and eyebrow at me.

"You're looking at her."

Say what?

**RPOV**

I pushed a strand of my sweat-dampened hair out of my face and looked at the room around me. The paint was peeling off the walls and various cracks and stains adorned the ceiling. The rest of this little house was in similar shape and I started to second guess my decision in buying it. I had gotten it for a bargain and I thought with a little elbow grease and a can-do attitude I would have it fixed up in no time. But I seemed to have severely misjudged my skills as a handywoman and I probably had a good couple of months ahead of me before the house could even function properly. I guess I would just take it one room at a time and see how it went from there. I had the money to hire help, but I was stubborn and I had bought this house with intent to fix it up by myself, as a sign of new beginnings. The house was located in La Push Washington, which was a small yet gorgeous Native American reservation just minutes from the ocean.

My thoughts of rebuilding were interrupted as my bundle of joy threw himself at me. He was covered in paint and I couldn't help but laugh at the guilty expression on his face.

"Mommy. Please don't get mad. I just wanted to paint my room and I'm so so so sorry. I love you so much." I sighed and looked down at him. He was laying it on pretty thick so what ever he did must have been bad.

"Just tell mommy what happened Patrick". He looked around quickly and then turned his big blue eyes up to me. Oh no now he was using 'the look'.

"I accidentally knocked over the ladder which had the paint can on it and then that knocked over the paint tray and the other paint can and it got all over the floor and I'm sorry and I love you." He said all in one breath. I laughed a little and bent down to pick him up.

"Alright show me where the damage is." I walked into the back room and surveyed the scene in front of me. It was like a scene out of a movie. Everything was knocked over and paint splatters could be seen all over the walls and floor. Little footmarks in blue paint could be seen from where Patrick stepped in it. At least I had put a drop cloth down so the floors didn't get ruined. As I looked everything over I couldn't help but feel a little annoyed at the thought of even more work, but any annoyance I had dissipated as I looked down to the worrying eyes of my son. I smiled at him before kissing him on the cheek and putting him down.

"Alright mister. You are going to have to help me clean this up ok?" He nodded enthusiastically at me and I retrieved some work towels to clean up the mess. Once the drop cloth was replaced, and the paint re-poured, we set to trying to paint the walls. And when I say we I mean I was doing the painting while Patrick made his own little designs on his part of the wall. I was just trimming the edge of a wall when I felt a little cold splatter on my arm. I turned around to see Pat giggling holding up a paintbrush. I laughed as I reached over and smudged some of my paint across his cheek. He shrieked and threw some back at me and before I knew it we were both covered in paint from head to toe and giggling uncontrollably. I sat down and Pat climbed his way into my lap throwing his arms around me. Even at the age of seven he was still such a momma's boy and I wouldn't have it any other way.

"I love you mommy."

"I love you too sweetheart."

Our sentimental moment was interrupted by the doorbell ringing. Hey at least the bell worked, that was one less thing I had to worry about. I got up and walked over to our front door, where I was met by a menacing looking man that took up the entire doorway.

He looked at me and his eyes widened a little before looking around like he wasn't sure if he was in the right place or not. He turned his menacing looking face back to me and I awkwardly cleared my throat.

"Um can I help you." My words seemed to snap him out of his funk and he smiled a little as he looked down to a post-it in his hand before meeting me eyes.

"I'm sorry. I'm looking for a Ryan Fleming. Is he here?" I couldn't help as my eyebrow shot up and a little smirk made its way onto my face. This happened to me all the time…downfall of having a boys name, people always thought you were a boy. I chuckled a little before meeting his dark onyx eyes again.

"You're looking at her."

**reviews would be awesome**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Don't own anything Twilight...obviously

**JPOV**

What? Here I was looking for old man geezer Ryan Fleming and instead I find this gorgeous woman claiming to be none other than the person I am looking for. I'm pretty sure I was standing there gaping like a fish because she just laughed at me and looked me up and down.

"Yeah I get that reaction a lot. Let me guess, you were expecting some old man that didn't know a hammer from a nail?" I chuckled a little and nodded my head.

"Yeah I guess you could say that. All they gave me was your name so I automatically assumed that…well…you were a guy." I blushed a little and rubbed the back of my neck, wondering where this new found sense of emotion came from. It had been years since I had actually laughed and here I was doing it with a complete stranger.

"It happens. So, not to be rude, but who are you and what are you doing on my porch?" I met her eyes and saw a bit of playfulness in them. I managed a smile and extended my hand towards her.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Fleming. My name is Jacob Black. The council told me that you needed help fixing up this old place, so here I am."

"Damn it. I told Billy I would be fine on my own, I should have known that he was up to something that old trickster. And please call me Ryan." She took my hand and my heart sped up when I grasped her soft hand in mine.

"Billy Black?" I asked and she nodded. "Ah, yeah, he is my dad…always sticking his nose where it doesn't belong." She chuckled and took a step back.

"Well Mr. Black, Thank you for offering but I'm sure you have better things to be doing on your Saturday than helping me fix up this piece of crap house. Besides I really had my heart set on doing it alone, you know they say good hard work with your hands is good for the soul or something like that." I opened my mouth to protest but before I could answer a little whirlwind of energy came barreling into the room latching onto Ryan's leg. He looked up at me with his big green eyes, his locks of black hair falling slightly over his face.

"Mommy who's that?" She smiled down at him before struggling to pick him up in her arms.

"Pat this is Mr. Black, this is my son Patrick."

Whoa, son? So if she was married how come her husband couldn't help her fix up this piece of crap house?

I looked down at the boy in her arms and was startled to see that besides Ryan's green eyes, the kid had all the features of one of the tribe. His hair was black, he had the high cheekbones and facial structure of a native and even though his skin wasn't the same shade of caramel as mine it was still obvious that he didn't need sun block. He flashed me a grin and I almost chuckled when I saw that he was missing one of his teeth.

"Wow mister you are ginormous!" Ryan gasped and looked down at Pat.

"Patrick Fleming, you know better than to say rude things like that. Now please apologize to Mr. Black." I managed a grimace grin.

"Please call me Jacob, or Jake if that's easier. And no need to apologize, the kid obviously calls it like he sees it."

She smiled slightly at me and then looked back down to the kid, her love for him obvious in her gaze. A pain shot through my heart as I thought about the love I once had for someone who never returned it; someone that I should have been raising kids with this very moment. I brought a hand up to dull the ache that was growing in my chest as I struggled to breathe evenly. Confusion filtered across Ryan's features as she saw my actions.

"Are you ok Jacob?" I met her eyes to see them full of concern, regardless of the fact that we had just met. Her hand came up in a maternal gesture to rest on my bicep and I couldn't help but embrace the feeling of being comforted by someone before I put up my icy exterior. I grunted a yes in response and took a step back. She shrugged and put Patrick down so he could run back into the house.

"So really Jacob, I should be fine with this hell hole by myself. Please send my thanks to the council and your father though."

"Will your husband be helping you with the renovations?" I saw as hurt clouded her features and she quickly covered it up, trying for a tight smile.

"I don't have a husband." Her voice lacked the normal spark it previously had.

"So it's just you and Patrick then?" She nodded.

"Really Jacob we will be fine."

I wiped a hand over my face trying not to groan in frustration. The ache in my chest had steadily increased and I knew that if I just said ok then I could be on my way to a night of drinking, and pretty soon the ache would be replaced with an all encompassing numbness. However if Billy found out that I didn't help Ryan out with this stupid house than he would most likely have my head on a platter, not to mention the guilt that would swarm me from once again not being a good son.

I decided that the numbness I loved so much would have to wait for now.

"Ryan, look I have no doubt that you could fix this house up by yourself, but I'm pretty sure Billy would kill me if I let you. Not to mention the fact that I didn't really have anything going on today, so you wouldn't actually be keeping me from anything." I tried to sound as friendly as possible. I watched as Ryan struggled with herself internally, no doubt having a battle with her self pride. Finally she sighed in defeat.

"Fine. But I insist on paying you." I couldn't help the laugh that escaped my lips at that.

"Ryan, that's ridiculous. I'm not taking any money from you. On the reservation we take care of our family, and now you are part of it. Besides you're going to need to save every penny to put into this…erm…lovely house of yours." No sooner had the words left my lips, when one of the shutters from the second floor fell off its hinge and plummeted to the ground, splintering when it made contact.

I honestly couldn't control my body as a laugh started to form in my chest working its way up before finally expelling forth from my mouth with so much force I was shaking. I heard as Ryan's laugh joined mine and before I knew it we were both doubled over clutching our sides as laughter bubbled out both of our mouths. After a couple of minutes we finally calmed down enough to catch our breath.

"Jesus Christ. What did I get myself into?" She chuckled as we both took in the house in front of us.

"Well we certainly have our work cut out for us. Where do we start?"

"Ugh I would like to get the bedrooms done first so we actually have somewhere to sleep. As of now Patrick's room was in good enough shape that we were able to paint. For now we just have a mattress in it and we are living out of boxes until we can get the house up and running. I figured it didn't make sense to unpack everything only to have to pack it up again so we could work on the house." I nodded in response.

"Why don't you come in a give it a look. If you see anything that I need to buy you can just write it down and I'll pick it up." She turned around and I followed her into the structure. If I thought the outside was bad, the inside was even worse. I swallowed as I mentally calculated the costs to fix up this place.

"Um Ryan…this, uh, project, is going to be a lot…of money." She cocked her head at me and grinned.

"Oh trust me I know. Don't worry about it I have it covered. Just tell me what we are going to need and I'll get it." If she had the money why didn't she just buy a nicer place? And how was she allowed to buy this place anyway? Only people from the tribe could live on the reservation, and Ryan was obviously not Quileute.

"If you say so."

We walked around the house and I took notes on the little pad I had as to what needed to be bought. Right now I was just focusing on the structure of the place. The actual build of the house was nice. It was a big house in comparison to the other houses of LaPush. It had two stories with 4 bedrooms 2 ½ baths and a big kitchen. Ryan's favorite part of the house was the giant bay windows in the living room that overlooked First Beach. She said that the view was one of the only reasons she decided to keep the house and not just scratch it and start fresh. The same view could be seen from the floor to ceiling windows in the master bedroom as well.

After taking stock of the house we sat down at the rickety old kitchen table.

"Well Jacob, since you did all this for me, the least I could do is feed you." I was about to protest that I needed to be getting home but my traitorous stomach chose that moment to growl particularly loud. I felt heat rise up to my cheeks as she laughed. I shook it off and motioned to the pathetic excuse of a kitchen around us.

"Um, how do you plan on making food with appliances from the stone-age?" She smiled at me and whipped out her cell phone.

"Takeout ok with you?"

"Any food is ok with me."

I grinned back at her as she phoned in for a couple of pizzas. I realized then that I wasn't in a rush to get home and get to drinking. What really startled me was the fact that the ache in my chest was almost nonexistent then entire time I was around Ryan. For the first time in ten years I felt something other than anger and remorse. I had actually been laughing before, genuine laughing at something. A little bit of me couldn't help but hope that maybe I was finally moving on, but the sensible part of me shut that thought down quickly.

Remember what happened the last time you let someone in. They took your heart, your soul…don't let it happen again.

Once again I felt the walls around me go up and Ryan looked at me confused as I went from smiling to my signature set jaw with a stony face. Patrick came racing into the room again and looked at me. His smile immediately dropped to a scowl and he looked pissed off as hell.

"Don't look at my mommy like that mister Jacob." She smiled down at him and hugged him.

"Oh hush Patrick its nothing." She glanced from him to me quickly and my expression softened a little.

"Sorry little man I didn't mean to I was just thinking of something that got me upset." He gave me a skeptical look before turning back to his mother.

"You want me to take care of this guy mommy?" Ryan smiled before winking at me.

"That's ok Patrick, Jacob didn't do anything wrong. Why don't you go play with your transformers and I'll call you when the pizza gets here." He sighed and looked skeptically between Ryan and I before storming off to his room. I couldn't help but chuckle at the balls the kid had.

"Don't mind him. He is just a bit overprotective of me." I nodded and a comfortable silence came over the table.

"Jacob. Thank you for helping with this. I know you are probably really busy with work and everything, so I know you wont have a lot of time to be over here, but thank you for going around and assessing the place."

"Of course."

"So Jacob what do you do?"

"I work for an auto design company. I draw out and design the bodies of high end cars." I couldn't help the little burst of pride as I talked about my job. It was one of the only things that kept me going.

"Wow that's awesome."

"What about you?" I saw her blush a little before tilting her head up.

"I'm a photographer."

"Oh yea? What do you photograph?" She tensed up for a moment before continuing.

"Well I used to do work overseas, but now I mostly photograph nature. Most recently I've been taking pictures of wild animals."

"Nice."

We continued in easy conversation and ate pizza with Patrick when it came. After dinner I thanked her and told her I would be by sometime this week to start on the house.

I made it back to my house and walked over to my fridge and grabbed a six pack, making my way to my couch. I popped open the first one to dull the pain and brought it up to my lips. Just before the frothy liquid touched I realized that the clamp around my chest wasn't agonizing. It was still there, but it wasn't intolerable. I set the beer down and turned on the TV. I eventually fell asleep listening to the sounds of the rain beating down on my roof and the lull of the television.

I woke up the next day earlier than usual. Patrolling schedules were lax as of recent because there really weren't any vamps around. No one was on right now and I decided to take a run in my wolf form. Being a wolf was indescribable, but the best part about it was the lack of human emotions involved. When I shifted, my animalistic side came out, overshadowing emotions that weren't vital to my survival. I took off running, making a big loop by the beach and was turning to head home when I caught a recently familiar scent. I followed it deeper into the woods and what I found astounded me.

Ryan was crouched down near a tree; camera in hand and not 10 yards away was a completely matured wolf. I heard the click of the shutter as she shot away and she was making these weird noises in the back of her throat that actually had a pretty soothing quality to them. The wolf was normal size, not anywhere as big as us, and was pure white. Its ears were up and it was relaxed, not at all threatened by Ryan's presence. I kept myself hidden and soundless in the brush behind the wolf and watched as it slowly made its way over to her. She continued to shoot her pictures as it made its way over, and she held out her hand to the creature. It looked at it before pushing its head up to meet it. She smiled and scratched the animal behind its ear, eliciting a purring sound from it.

Was this woman crazy? She was in the wilderness scratching a wild wolf behind the ears; did she have a death wish? What sane person tries to pet a wolf? Apparently Ryan Fleming does. The wolf closed its eyes and lay on the ground in complete submissive position as Ryan continued to pet it.

"Well hello beautiful. You are just gorgeous."

And now the crazy lady was talking to the wolf.

She took a few more pictures before standing up and brushing off her jeans. The wolf looked up at her and she chuckled and held up her camera again to take another picture.

"Rith feadh mac tíre anois beag." She spoke to the animal in a language I didn't understand. I took a step forward and a twig snapped underneath my massive paw.

Shit.

The wolf snapped its head around and gave out a warning growl towards my direction. Ryan looked over and I decided that it would be a great time to leave. I turned and sprinted away as I heard the click of her shutter.

Fuck, she better not have gotten a picture of me. That's all I needed was to have blown our secret we have been hiding for years.

I took off back to my house and phased back. Today the ache in my chest wasn't unbearable, but it still was present. Present enough for me to grab a case of beer and have at it. I called up Quil and Embry and much to their shock invited them over to watch the game, trying to keep my mind off of the woman in the woods.

* * *

**"Rith feadh mac tíre anois beag"= Run along now little wolf**

**Ok so the language Ryan was talking to the wolf in is Gaelic. I'm sorry if I butchered it, I just got it from a translator website.**

**Reviews would be pretty rad.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Ok so this chapter was a bit tough to write...I guess you can say I'm having a little bit of a writers block. I know exactly what I want to happen I'm just have trouble putting the words together...grr. No worries though, I'll keep updating. Sorry if it's a bit off to read. Thanks to all 3 of my reviewers! You guys are awesome!**

**RPOV**

It had been a week since Jacob Black had come to our home. Although he had tried hard to keep up his tough façade, my photographer's eye saw right through him. At times he would slip with his hard demeanor and the amount of devastation I saw in his eyes would floor me. This man had known pain that most people had only heard of. I recognized it because I had been through the same thing. I knew the pain that he did, and even though we had different causes of it, we were together in our misery.

I couldn't help but wonder what had happened to cause him to be this way.

He didn't look like a person that was created to be angry. If you looked past his icy exterior he actually was quite attractive. Now I'm speaking on a purely professional level, but the man was extremely pleasing to look at. His russet colored skin was the perfect shade and from the looks of it, the man did not have one inch of fat on his body. His shoulders were broad and his arms were huge. If it weren't for the scowl that was permanently plastered on his face, he could be a model.

Over the week I had managed to get out into the forest and get some spectacular pictures of the landscape as well as some animals. I had come in contact with a gorgeous wolf and gotten some pretty awesome close-ups of the creature.

I was currently in the darkroom I had installed in the basement developing my film. I had a state of the art digital camera, but to me there was nothing like working with raw film.

I was looking over my contact sheet from the shoot with the wolf and picked out a couple photos to be developed. After going through the chemicals I hung the photo paper up to dry. I glanced over them admiring my work when the background of one of the pictures caught my eye. The white wolf was looking at the camera and just over its right shoulder there was a little glint, as if the light had been reflecting off of something. I took the picture down and put it through the water tub and took it out on the other side so I could examine it in the light.

I gasped as I took in what was behind the white wolf. There standing in the bushes, hidden to the point I had to squint to see it, was something huge. It was bigger than a bear, and certainly bigger than the white wolf. Although its size contradicted it, it was most definitely a wolf. A huge, russet colored wolf. The glint that I had spotted was the light reflecting off of its onyx colored eye. I tried to comprehend what I was seeing. A giant wolf, three times the size of a normal one, that had been…holy shit, it had been right in front of me.

I quickly developed the other photographs only to see bits and pieces of it. The last picture had the white wolfs head pointing towards it and all you could see of the giant was its tail as it fled. This was a huge development. If I could get a full picture of this wolf it could do wonders for the preservation of the species.

I had been working with National Geographic on the preservation of the wolf population. Hunting had increased due to faulty figures about predatory wolves feeding on ranchers cattle, and many species of wolves were making their way towards the endangered list. A picture of a wolf this size would provide more funding for the program and help put a stop to wolf hunting. I mentally started planning my way to capture the wolf on camera when the doorbell rang. I took the stairs two at a time, fueled by my excitement for my project.

I opened the door to find none other than Jacob Black. Then I remembered what day it was. We had agreed that he would come over on Saturdays to help with the house. He looked significantly better today, the circles around his eyes not as deep as the last time he was here. He was wearing a white t-shirt that stretched across his broad chest like a second skin, showing off his well defined muscles. He was also wearing his jeans and work boots and I'm pretty sure I started drooling. His appearance was brightened by the fact that he actually had a little smile on his face.

"Hello Jacob, please come in." He smiled and stepped past me into the hall, causing me to get a whiff of his scent. Whatever cologne he was wearing was mouthwatering and I scolded myself for having impure thoughts about someone who looked like he was a good 5 years younger than me. There is no way he could be older than 25, 28 at most. Before I could stop them the words were out of my mouth.

"How old are you Jacob?" I slapped my hand to my mouth as my brain caught up with what I had just said.

"Oh God, I'm sorry that was so rude. I have trouble with the whole brain/mouth filter thing." He smirked at me before shaking his head.

"Don't worry about it. And I'm 36." I coughed.

"WHAT?" He laughed as my eyes bugged out of my head.

"But…there's no way…thirty six?" I stuttered out. Jeeze get a grip Ryan, no need to look like a total moron. I took a deep breath and looked up to see him smirking at me.

"Sorry. Its just, you do not look like you are thirty six. More like twenty six." He chuckled and nodded his head.

"Yeah I get that a lot. Just good genes I guess." I smiled back up at him and we walked into the kitchen.

"Well I told you mine, I only think its fair if you tell me yours." I chuckled.

"I guess that's only fair…I'm 30." He smiled a little at me. "You look younger." Then fished a list out of his pocket.

"So did you pick up any of the things on the list I left you?"

"Yeah, actually I got all of it. Figured I would save myself multiple trips to the store. It's all out back in the garage." He followed me out back.

"Where is your little bundle of energy?"

"Patrick is visiting his grandmother for the weekend." I was short, not wanting to get into that topic.

"She lives on the res?"

"Yes, she does." It hurt too much to talk about it anymore, so I quickly changed subjects.

"So I got all the stuff. What should we start on first?"

"Well I think that besides the living room and porch, the actual structure of the house is in decent shape. I might have to rebuild a few walls but that's nothing I can't handle. Lets bring these 4x4's in and we will start with the wall in the living room."

I nodded and picked up one beam. I looked over and almost dropped the heavy piece of wood when I saw Jacob carrying four of them like they were as light as feathers. I quickly got a hold of myself and followed him into the house.

Over the next couple of hours we managed to replace two of the walls in the living room. The conversation was minimal, as we both preferred to work in silence, but there was never an awkward silence.

Every now and again my eyes would drift over to Jacob's form and my breath would catch a little at how gorgeous he actually was. I tried to tell myself that it was just my photographer's eye admiring a fine subject, but the truth was I found my dirty mind wandering to places that it shouldn't have been.

I unconsciously licked my lips as my eyes followed a bead of sweat that started just under his chin and slid down his chest to be absorbed by the t-shirt he had on. I mentally shook my head and scolded myself as I went back to work.

We finished putting up the drywall and headed into the kitchen for a break. I poured us both a glass of iced tea and we started talking. Conversations with Jacob were never insightful or even intellectually stimulating, but I didn't care. Conversations with Jake were easy, and that's all that mattered. When we had something to say we would say it, and when we didn't we would spend our time in compatible silence, lost in our own thoughts. Spending time with him was never awkward, because even with his icy demeanor, he was an easy person to be around.

We went back to work and after we finished I offered to cook dinner for him. He insisted that he help and we ended up making a microwavable feast, since not many of the other appliances were in order yet.

* * *

This routine continued for a couple months and I found myself looking forward to Jacob's visits. With him things were easy, nothing was ever strained. It was fascinating to watch how he opened himself up around Patrick and I more and more. I understood that he had seen pain, and he had the same understanding with me. We never talked about what went on in our respective lives to make us the way we were, and for that I was extremely thankful.

Talking about Patrick's father was not something I wanted to do, even after seven years it was too painful to think about.

The house was slowly getting finished and the only thing that was left to do besides a massive amount of painting was rebuilding the unsalvageable front porch. Jacob told me that he was going to bring some friends over to help with the rebuilding and after that the house would be, more or less, done.

Jacob and I were currently watching TV when Patrick came running through the door, obviously happy to be done with school for the day.

"Mommy!" He leapt into my arms and I smiled as I hugged him closer to me. I glanced over his shoulder to see Jacob smiling at us. I gave him a little smile back, somewhat surprised. Normally whenever Jacob would see Pat and I together he would tense up and retreat into his shell.

Patrick gave me a kiss on the cheek and I let him down. He ran to Jacob and hugged his legs.

"Mister Jacob! I missed you!"

I couldn't help but laugh at Pat's name for Jacob. He insisted on calling him Mister Jacob, much to Jake's dismay. Jake smiled and kneeled down so he was on eye level with my son.

"Hey little man. How was school?" Pat's eyes lit up and he proceeded to give us a play by play of his day.

"Mister Jacob someone called me a How…um howcaught? What does that mean." I tensed up and looked over to Jake to saw his face darken.

"Did you mean Hokat Patrick?"

"Yea, he called me a ho-quaht. Is that bad Mister Jacob?"

I looked over to Jake to see that he was trembling. I knew what the word meant, Patrick's father had taught me a little Quileute, and I had heard the word thrown at me multiple times when I first moved onto the res.

Jacob took a deep breath and turned back to Patrick.

"Patrick you need to tell me who said this to you, ok bud?"

"It was Jeremy Young. He isn't very nice to me. Why doesn't he like me Mister Jacob?" Jake's trembling got worse as he took a step back from Pat. He clenched his hands at his side and took a couple deep breaths before looking down at Patrick.

"Don't worry about it little man, he was just being mean. Apparently it runs in the family."

The last part he muttered so low I had trouble hearing him. I looked down at my son who wanted nothing more than to make friends and a wave of guilt flooded me. It was my fault his classmates were calling him an "outsider". I should have known that moving back here was a mistake. We would always be outsiders.

**JPOV**

I saw Ryan's face fall as Patrick explained that he had been called a 'Hoquaht' by some stupid kid in his class. I started trembling at the thought of anyone saying that to Pat, and the devastated look on Ryan's face only fueled my anger. She obviously knew that the word was Quileute slang for 'outsider', more importantly 'one who isn't wanted', or 'one not of true blood.' I asked Pat who said that and I almost phased when he told me it was Jeremy Young, Paul and Rachel's kid, my nephew. I figured that the asshole gene would be passed down from Paul to his kids, but I hoped that my sister would at least raise them right. Apparently I was wrong.

I looked up to see guilt work its way onto Ryan's features and moisture started pooling in her eyes. She blamed herself for what happened to Patrick. I kneeled back down to Pat.

"Hey little man, why don't you go start your homework and then we can play some football or something okay?"

He beamed up at me, the encounter at school already forgotten, and ran into his room to start his work. I stood up and looked over at Ryan who was trying extremely hard to keep her tears at bay. My heart broke a little and I walked over to her and tilted her chin up to meet my eyes.

"Hey, it'll be ok." She nodded and averted her eyes. Hoping that I wouldn't see the tears in them.

"Ryan, come on now, look at me."

She took a deep breath and glanced up at me, the hurt in her eyes floored me and before I knew what I was doing I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close to me. This caused the floodgates to open and her arms wrapped themselves around my torso as she quietly sobbed into my shirt.

"Shh it's ok Ry." She continued crying against me as I ran my hands through her wavy hair.

"I knew I shouldn't have moved here." She whispered quietly in between her tears.

I just continued to stoke her hair and held onto her tightly as she cried. For once in my life I was comforting someone. I could relate to the pain that she knew. I stroked her head and sat us down on the couch as we both comforted each other. I liked the feeling of protecting Ryan, and I liked having her in my arms.

And for the first time since _she_ left, I felt _whole_ again.


	4. Chapter 4

Here is a little treat for you...enjoy!

**JPOV**

It was the Saturday that the pack had agreed to help with Ryan's porch. I could tell they were a bit skeptical of the fact that I was actually socializing again, but I was their Alpha so they came anyway. Ryan, Brady, Collin, Quil and I were just waiting for Seth to come. Ryan had made us all breakfast and I could tell that she had already won them over. I guess the fastest way to a man's heart really is his stomach.

We still hadn't gotten into who Patrick's father was. It had been very hush hush around the res and I wasn't going to go hunting for information that Ryan obviously didn't want me to know.

Patrick was playing with his army figurines on the floor in front of the couch and the rest of us were just lounging about, letting our stomachs digest the delicious food we had just stuffed it with. From my seat on the recliner I could see Ryan flitting about the kitchen, cleaning. I had gotten used to the fact that my heart beat just a little bit faster when ever she was around, and every now and again I kind of forgot to breathe.

She really was a stunning woman. Even at the age of 30, she still had all of her youthful attributes. I watched as she reached up to put away a glass and the tank top she had on slipped up, giving me a view of a nice expanse of skin by the small of her back. My eyes traveled up her body past her soft stomach, to her perfect sized chest, past her neck, up to those luscious kissable lips…whoaaa, hold on just a minute. Since when did I think that Ryan's lips were kissable? I flicked my eyes back to them and had to hold in a groan when she bit her bottom lip in between her teeth. I had to calm myself before the guys noticed my less than subtle reaction to the woman in the next room.

I got up and headed into the kitchen to help her. After all, it was our mess that she was cleaning. I wrapped my arms around her from behind and blew a raspberry on her neck. She shrieked and swatted me with her dish towel.

"Jacob! You know I hate it when you do that." She tried to scold me but I saw the humor in her eyes.

"Oh come on Ryry you know you love it." She laughed and winked at me before turning back to the dishes. I stood besides her and took the towel out of her hand.

"You wash I'll dry?"

She nodded and we continued our dishwashing in compatible silence. I could hear the guys talking in the living room, and it hit me how much I really missed them. I felt Ryan tense a little besides me and was startled to find that she was frowning. She took a deep breath and looked at me.

"Jacob. I think it's time I told you about Patrick's father. It's only a matter of time before you find out anyway and I'd rather you hear it from me." Just as she was about to start her story I heard the gravel of the driveway crunching as a car pulled up.

"Seth's here!" Brady called out from the living room.

Ryan tensed up even more and we both listened as someone walked through the front door. However the voice that followed was one of the last people I expected to hear.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't my favorite bunch of misfits. Did you jerks miss me?" I heard a chorus of yeses. The next thing I did not expect though. From Patrick's seat on the floor I heard his voice above everyone else.

"Aunt Leah!"

Wait. _AUNT_ Leah? Aunt Leah, as in Aunt, as in her _brother's_ kid, as in…

My body started trembling and I clenched my fists at my side. I heard a second set of footsteps come through the door and I let out a growl so deep it startled Ryan.

His name came out as a roar as I tore into the living room.

**"SETHHH."**

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**Muhahahaha...don't kill me. I will update asap. Love my reviewers! And my readers!**


	5. Chapter 5

**JPOV**

I saw red as I grabbed my pack mate by the collar and hauled him up against the wall. Everyone around me stared in shock before jumping to his aid. They tried to pry me off him, but I was determined as I held him up.

"You son of a bitch." Seth's eyes widened as I pressed him closer against the wall, his feet now dangling in the air.

I didn't know much about Pat's father, but I knew that he caused Ryan massive amounts of emotional pain. So much so that it took her months to open up to the idea of telling me about him. I couldn't believe Seth, sweet Seth, would cause someone that much pain. This thought only made me angrier and I started trembling even more as I pressed him against the wall.

"Jacob what the hell are you doing?" Ryan's voice came to me over all the rest. I turned to her and nodded my head to the kid currently turning blue underneath my grasp.

"Him Ryan!"

She looked at me confused before recognition flittered across her face. Just as she was about to say something, Patrick opened his mouth.

"Mister Jacob! Put my uncle Seth down!"

Wait, what? Uncle Seth, not Daddy. _Uncle_ Seth and _Aunt_ Leah. My mind raced as I tried to put two and two together. I was completely stumped; the Clearwater's didn't have any other kids. As my mind tried to figure it out a warm hand on my shoulder broke me out of my thinking.

"Jacob please, you're hurting him." I turned from Seth to see Ryan looking up at me with a pleading look on her face. I dropped my hold on Seth and caught him as he fell down, gasping for air.

"Shit Jacob, what the fuck was that for?"

Seth gasped, greedily gulping in oxygen. I opened my mouth to explain, but Ryan beat me to it.

"She thought that you were Patrick's father."

I heard some mirth in her voice and turned to see her trying to hold back a smile. Everyone stared in shock before they started laughing, Ryan and Seth included.

"Oh my god, that is precious." Leah laughed and I let out a little growl.

"Seth? Seriously Jake? Seth, out of everyone, you think Seth…ahahaha that is just too funny."

The guys continued to laugh about it, while I was still trying to figure out the logistics of who Pat's father was. I glanced over to Ryan and she smiled and nodded to the kitchen. I followed her and she hopped up onto the counter and grabbed an apple, biting into it.

"So, I guess this kind of explains things."

"Ha not exactly." She took a deep breath before continuing.

"So I guess you've figured out that Leah and Seth are Pat's Aunt and Uncle. And I bet you're wondering how the hell that could be possible right? Cause Harry and Sue don't have any other kids."

I simply nodded waiting for her to continue.

"Well that's where you're wrong. Before Harry and Sue had Leah…well their marriage wasn't exactly perfect. I mean just looking at Sue now, you would never be able to tell that her and Harry weren't totally in love with each other in the beginning. Well right after they got married, Harry had an affair. It was only once, but it really only takes one time. Well nine months later the woman Harry had the affair with gave birth to a baby boy named Kade. People on the res had no idea that Harry was the father, but still kind of made Kade and his mother feel like an outcast. After all, he was a 'bastard' child."

Her nose scrunched up with distaste when she said this.

"When Kade was fifteen his mom ran off. Kade found Harry, who had already married Sue and had Leah and Seth, and told him that he was his son, much to Harry's shock. Harry, being Harry, had told Sue about the affair right after it happened and she had long since forgiven him. I mean everyone makes mistakes right? Well Sue and Harry accepted Kade as their son, but kept in on the down low. Harry was an elder, and it wouldn't have looked good for the family. So Kade went to go live with the Clearwater's relatives on a different reservation, but they did visit in private. Once Kade graduated high school he gradually worked his way up in the journalism world, and that's how we ended up meeting."

Her voice choked a little at the end and I reached out and took her hand in mine.

"We were best friends as well as coworkers. He wrote the stories and I took the pictures. I had just graduated college and was thrilled to be working overseas on assignment. With Kade Bryant nonetheless. Our job was dangerous, we were almost always in red zones, but we loved it. We had each other's backs, and we would spend countless hours learning about each other. It was about a year after I got paired up with Kade, and we were on assignment in Chechnya. We knew the hostile state that the country was in, but we were determined to get the story. After all, we weren't armatures; I mean we had already been shot at for god's sake."

She laughed a little forced laugh and then continued.

"It was supposed to be just like any other assignment. Get in, get the story, and get out. Well what started out as an everyday assignment turned into our worst nightmare. While we were in route to our camp we were taken hostage by gorilla fighters. They took our press passes and passports, and knocked us both out cold. When we woke up we were in a dark hut, to this day I still don't know where exactly they took us."

I squeezed her hand when her breathing started getting shallow.

"Ryan, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to." She gave me a smile and squeezed my hand back.

"I have to Jacob." I heard the talking in the living room stop and I figured I wouldn't let her know that everyone was now listening to our conversation.

"When I woke up I could barely see my hand in front of my face…"

_**Ryan POV (Chechnya)**_

_I woke up in the hut and my heart instantly started pounding in my chest. I felt something trickle down my face and brought my hand up to feel the blood from the cut they made in my head when they knocked me out. I reached around blindly searching for anything when I felt another body. I shook it lightly and I heard Kade groan as he woke up._

_"Kade! Kade are you alright?" He coughed a little and groaned again._

_"Ryan? Is that you?"_

_"Oh thank god, are you hurt?" He chuckled a little._

_"Not unless you count this gash in my head. How are you?"_

_"Just a nasty cut." I heard him sit up and then gasped as he grabbed me and pulled him against him. My heart slowed down as I took comfort in my best friend._

_"Well this certainly wasn't how I planned this vacation going."_

_I forced out a little laugh as I took stock of our situation. We didn't even know where the hell we were, we had no identification, and we were being held hostage. Not exactly the best of circumstances. Kade must have felt my nervousness because he pulled me a little closer and rubbed the small of my back, trying to soothe me._

_"Hey Ryry, it's going to be ok. It's already been 24 hours since we've checked into headquarters. They'll know that something's wrong and send out the troops. We'll be out of this mess in no time. I'm sure it's just a big misunderstanding. There's no need to worry Ry. In a few days we will be sitting by the pool sipping on margaritas and laughing about this."_

_I smiled as he reassured me. He always had such a calming personality; it was hard to get upset around him._

_"So where do you think they took us?"_

_"Probably not far, I don't think we were out that long."_

_"I wish we could see what's going on outside." I felt him shift around a little bit before pulling something out of his pocket._

_"Now that I can help you with." _

_He slid over to the side of the hut and I heard a scratching noise as he did something. After a couple of minutes a little hole was revealed in the side, which casted a little light throughout the hut. He made the hole a little bigger and I finally was able to look at our surroundings. We were in a one roomed hut that was no bigger than 12'x12' with nothing in it. The door was bolted shut and it looked as if there was a slot that opened up to give us food. I looked over at Kade and gasped at the state he was in._

_The minimal light in the hut allowed me to see that one side of his face was swollen and bloodied, he had blood pouring out of a wound at his brow and he was struggling to take in breaths._

_"Fuck Kade! You said you just had a little cut." He forced a smile and looked at me._

_"Didn't want you to worry Ry. It must look a lot worse than it is."_

_I frowned at him._

_"Kade don't pull that bullshit with me. We need to get that cut on your head to stop bleeding, you've lost too much blood already."_

_"Ryan, seriously, I'm fine." I smiled a little at him._

_"I'm sure you are mister tough man. Just humor me."_

_I reached down and tore a strip off of the shirt I was wearing and proceeded to make a makeshift bandage that helped to stop the bleeding. Once we were settled he pulled me back to his side and laid his head on my shoulder._

_"What do we do now Kade?"_

_"We wait."_

**JPOV**

I stood there in shock as Ryan told me her story. I never even knew that she had been overseas, in a war zone nonetheless. That took some serious balls. I suddenly had a newfound respect for the woman in front of me as I thought about all the shit that she had been through. She knew what is was like to be in danger, and while she wasn't hunting vampires, she was in close proximity to some of the most dangerous humans on the planet.

I could see that she was kind of out of it, reliving in her mind her time spent in Chechnya. I reached over and pulled her into my arms, her arms found their way around my torso and I couldn't help the feeling of wholeness that overcame me.

She took a deep breath and continued her story, as I stroked the smooth skin on her back.

_**RPOV (Chechnya)**_

_It had been 7 days, a full week, since we had gotten taken. It was obvious that help wasn't coming anytime soon. I could even tell that Kade was getting anxious. We could feel the tension around the camp heighten over the week, and we knew that something big was coming soon. The amount of men into the camp had increased drastically, as well as the amount of weapons. We were both weaker; due to the fact that they barely fed us, and other than our feeding times we had no contact with our captors._

_Kade and I were both on edge. We had been woken up early by one of the men and yelled at in a language that we didn't understand. After not responding the man had beaten Kade to a bloody pulp, and when ever I tried to stop him he would just hit me. After he left I rushed to Kade's side._

_"Jesus Christ Kade, are you alright." He attempted a smile._

_"Never better sweetheart." He opened his arms and I rushed into them._

_We could feel it around us._

_We both knew that today was going to be it._

_Today we were going to die._

_I clanged onto Kade like my life depended on it. His breathing sped up and a feeling of desperation came over the both of us. We knew, we knew this was it. As we held tighter to each other, silent tears fell from our eyes._

_"I'm scared Kade." I choked out. He didn't say anything for a while, rather just pulled me tighter against him._

_"Me too Ryan."_

_That was my breaking point. To see my best friend, Mr. Courageous, accept the fact that we were going to die, made me fall over the edge. The floodgates broke as I sobbed into him. He tried to soothe me by rubbing circles on my back, but it did nothing to help. I continued sobbing and he pulled my chin up so I was forced to look at him. My green eyes met his black ones and before either of us knew what was happening our lips met in a hungry kiss._

_We devoured each other as hands roamed across each other's bodies. Clothes were quickly discarded as we tried to crawl inside of each other. We needed this. We needed this more than anything else that morning._

_We both needed to feel alive…for one last time._

_By the time we were putting on our clothes, things around the camp had turned hectic. Men were screaming orders as they rushed around, and before we knew it gunfire could be heard. Kade and I crouched down in the corner of the hut, my hand enfolded tightly in his._

_"This might be our chance Ry, we might be able to make a break for it." I nodded besides him. He looked down at me and reached his hand up to my cheek._

_"No matter what happens Ryan, I need you to run. I need you to run as fast as you can and not look back, no matter what. Okay?" I nodded as nervous tears filled my eyes._

_He looked around before sweetfully capturing my lips with his own. The kiss was completely out of place given our current circumstances but I didn't care._

_"I love you Ryan. I'm just sorry it took all of this to realize it."_

_Before I could even open my mouth to respond the door was flung open causing the bright daylight to flood in and temporarily blind us. We heard shouting from the silhouetted person in the doorframe before he threw something in that landed with a loud clank._

_Kade swore and pushed me down, covering his body with mine. Before I could even register what was going on there was a loud explosion and I felt nothing but pain as the right side of my body was ripped into. There was a blinding white light and for a minute I could have sworn I was dead, until things started coming back into focus. I could hear the gunfire and screams, but it was muted. Something heavy was pressing down on my chest and I couldn't breath. I wiggled out from underneath it and looked around._

_It had been a grenade. That's what the man had thrown._

_I looked down and froze at what I saw before me._

_Kade._

_Kade had thrown himself on top of me, taking the full force of the grenade. He was on his stomach and his back and legs had shrapnel ripped into him. I screamed as I turned him over, praying to god that he was alive._

_His lifeless eyes stared back at me._

_I choked on a sob and shook him, hoping to awaken him._

_"No, no, no, no, no!" I shook him harder, but it was no use, he was gone._

_"Come on Kade! Please! Don't do this to me!" I sobbed against his chest, just like I had been doing before, only this time his warm hand didn't trace circles on my back. He didn't tell me everything was going to be ok._

_He was dead._

_His voice came into my head. His last request of me._

_"No matter what happens Ryan, I need you to run. I need you to run as fast as you can and not look back, no matter what. Okay?"_

_I got up and did exactly that. I ran out of what was left of the hut and into the surrounding forest. I ran and ran, with no way of knowing where I was going. I ran even when I felt dizzy from the loss of blood coming out of my wound in my side. I ran until my body gave up, and then everything went black._

**JPOV**

I stood there mute. What on Earth could I possibly say that would make any of what Ryan told me better. I instinctually held her closer to me and I felt a little wet patch where he tears had soaked through my t-shirt. She pulled back from my and wiped the water from her eyes.

"When I woke up I was in a hospital. The army had found me and connected me with the missing press report our headquarters had sent out. The had found the camp they held us hostage in, and it turns out it was an arms camp, supplying the rebels with guns and ammo. They found Kade's body when they raided the camp and had a funeral for him stateside. They told me I was lucky to be alive, with the amount of shrapnel my body had taken."

She laughed a cynical laugh before pushing on.

"I didn't feel lucky. The things I saw, and what happened to Kade... I wanted to die. I didn't really have a real family and I had no where to really to go home to. I was like a zombie, for the first two months after his death. All I could think about was him and the time that we had taken for granted."

She took a deep breath and a smile graced her face.

"But then I found out about Patrick, and well, he saved my life. He became everything I lived for. I kept myself healthy for his sake. With him, a little piece of Kade would always be with me."

I smiled a little as I thought about the little dude, he really was something extraordinary.

"Once I had Pat, I lived for six years with my cousins in New York; but it never really felt like home. I remembered how Kade always talked about his family in LaPush. About how much he loved Sue and Harry and how he wanted to move back there once he was done with the assignment. It really wasn't fair that he died, it was his last assignment before retiring; after all he was ten years older than me. I called up Sue. Once she told me that Harry had passed away I was worried that she wouldn't want me there. After all, Kade wasn't her kid. But Sue surprised me by being thrilled that she had a grandson, and she told me that she would love nothing more to have Patrick and I move onto the reservation. Since she was on the tribal council she made sure that I could buy a house on the res, even though I'm white, and set up everything necessary for us."

I smiled at the thought of Sue Clearwater helping out a complete stranger, and I wasn't surprised one bit.

"She is a total godsend. She takes Patrick all the time and those two are like peas in a pod. So that's why Patrick calls Seth and Leah Uncle and Aunt."

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**Well there ya go folks. Seth's not the father...I mean come on it's Seth! If he was a dad he would totally be into it. **

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter! More to come soon!**


	6. Chapter 6

**JPOV**

"Dude! What the hell Seth! Why didn't you tell us you had a nephew?" Brady yelled from the living room.

Smooth guys, way to let Ryan know you were listening to every word.

I looked over and saw her blush a little bit, before smiling and shaking her head at the boys.

"Man it wasn't my place to tell. Ryan is still getting acclimated."

"How did you keep it from us when we were patro-" Collin's sentence was cut off with a loud smack.

"Owww Leah! What was that for?"

"Watch what you say around here Collin. She doesn't know." Leah's statement was low enough that only those with supernatural senses could hear it.

"Oh shit I forgot. Sorry."

"So I guess the secrets out huh?" Ryan asked me.

"Don't worry about them Ry. They wont say anything if you don't want them to."

"No its time that people knew. I know that a lot of people were questioning how I was allowed to buy on the res. I know Sue has been dying to show off her grandson too." She let out a little smile and I felt my lips tug up in response.

We walked into the living room and Ryan went straight to Leah, engulfing her in a hug. To everyone's shock, Leah returned it full force.

"Ryan! It's so good to see you!"

Leah shrieked as we watched in shock and awe. None of us had ever seen Leah act…well, act like such a girl. She did look good though. For the first time in a long time she looked at peace, and as her former Alpha I was happy to see that.

"You too Lee! I can't believe it's been what…three months since I've moved here?"

"It's been too long. I need to see my favorite nephew more often!" She said while picking up a screaming Patrick and holding him upside-down.

"Ahh Aunt Leah stop it!" Patrick giggled as she swung him around. Ryan just looked on amused, trusting Leah not to drop the kid on his head. Leah righted him and held him against her.

"How's my most favorite nephew doing?"

"I'm your only nephew Aunt Leah."

"Yeah unfortunately it looks like it's gonna stay that way for a while. I don't even think my baby bro has gotten laid yet."

We broke out laughing as Seth growled at her.

"Mommy what's laid?"

We all stopped laughing at once and stared at Patrick in shock, before all busting out with laughter at the same time. Ryan glared at Leah and took Pat from her.

"Don't worry about it sweetie. Aunt Leah just likes to say things that only adults can say." Leah laughed and ruffled Pat's hair as our laughing died down.

"Why are you here anyway Leah?" Seth grumbled from his position sulking on the lazyboy. Pat quickly got bored with our conversation and took his toys into the kitchen.

"Well besides coming to see my favorite kid ever, I have some news." We all nodded waiting for her to continue.

"I'm getting married!"

A chorus of 'no ways' and 'congratulations' rang out as the pack each engulfed her in hugs and well wishes. Ryan squealed and tackled her.

"Ah Leah I'm so happy for you!"

"Thanks. You'll never guess what his name is?" She shot a smirk at Ryan.

"Oh shut the hell up. Come on Lee, out of all the guys out there you have to chose a guy with the same name as me?" Everyone snickered causing both of them to glare. Leah just smiled, looking overjoyed.

"His name is Ryan Malone. He lives in Seattle a couple blocks away from me. He is an architect. We've been dating a couple years now, but I haven't seen you guys at all. Seth knew but that was about it." She had a dreamy look in her eye; obviously the woman was in love, and I couldn't be happier for her.

After a couple of minutes discussing Leah's fiancé and the wedding she left us to go back to Seattle. It was kind of crazy to think about the pack and where we were.

Sam was forty now, and even though he didn't look his age, you could tell that he was aging. Him and Emily had three kids now. Levi was their oldest at seventeen, we were surprised he hadn't phased yet, then again there hadn't really been any vamps. Mia was fifteen and a total firecracker. Their last addition to the Uley family was completely unexpected, yet loved all the same. Jenna was the tender age of seven and a spitting image of her mother.

It was weird to think that Sam had a family, he was a father, he wasn't in the pack anymore. He was old.

But who am I kidding, I'm fucking 36; that's not exactly young.

Sam had just done what I should have. He fulfilled his duty to the pack and then stepped down to live a normal life with his wife.

Embry was married too. He already had a son, with a daughter on the way.

The same ship had sailed for Paul and Jared too.

And now Leah.

They were all moving on. Being normal.

It's what I should be doing.

Did I really want to stay trapped in time while I watched the people I love grow old around me? All just for a chance to see her again?

No. I didn't.

Ryan was giving me a curious look as I came back from lala land. I shook my head and wrapped my arms around her leaning my head on her shoulder. Her arms encircled my waist and the feeling of home swept through me.

We had an interesting relationship, in the 'I always am touching you somehow, not in a romantic way, but we really are just friends' kind of way.

She pulled back and turned to the rowdy men in her living room.

"Well aren't you boys supposed to be building me a porch? I guess all of that food I made for you will just have to go to waist."

They all scrambled to get outside to finish the porch as quickly as possible, hungry for their reward.

After we had finished the porch, which looked pretty kick ass if I must say so myself, we all crowded around a few picnic tables outside enjoying the delicious meal Ryan had made for us in her thanks.

Being the creeper I am, I was watching her as she laughed at something Brady said. She playfully punched him in the arm and shook her hand out in pain. Brady just laughed and took her hand giving it a kiss. Red started impairing my vision as I let out a deep growl. Both their heads snapped towards me, and Brady quickly dropped her hand and looked down sheepishly.

I felt a steady hand on my shoulder and turned to see Seth giving me a disapproving look.

"Get a grip Jake."

Jesus Christ what the fuck was wrong with me? Why was I getting upset over Ryan and Brady?

I shook my head at myself and turned away, only to have Patrick throw himself at me.

"Mister Jacob! Can you play soccer with me please please please?" I laughed at the kid's enthusiasm.

"Sure little man, go get the ball. Why don't you ask your uncle Seth if he wants to play too?"

"Ok!" The kid took off at the speed of light towards the shed at the back of the yard. I was watching Ryan talk to Brady when the most ungodly sweet smell invaded my nostrils. Simultaneously the pack tensed up and I went into Alpha mode as I looked for Ryan and Patrick. Brady was quickly moving Ryan inside much to her confusion. Where the hell was Patrick?

My eyes found him at the back of the yard and I took off at an inhuman speed as the smell got closer. Just before I reached him Patrick pointed towards the other side of the yard.

"Mommy! Look at that sparkly man!"

There standing a short distance away from Patrick and I, was a fucking blood sucking, red eyed vampire.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Obviously don't own any Twilight stuff**

**God so getting through this chapter has been absolute torture. For some reason the words just aren't coming. So I profusely apologize for the lack of…well basically everything. Give me strength to get over my shitty writers block!**

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**JPOV**

In the span of one second I grabbed Pat and raced towards the house as Brady, Seth, Collin, and Quil phased and took off after the vamp. Quil let out an ear-piercing howl and I grabbed Ryan and Pat and pushed them inside, Ryan's eyes wide with what she just saw.

I was trembling as I heard the fighting going on outside and was torn between joining my pack and protecting Ryan and Patrick.

That decision was made, however, when another pale figure immerged from the woods heading straight towards Quil. I looked at Ryan, frozen in place at what was going on in her yard. I shook her shoulders and made her look at me.

"Ryan! Focus. I need you to take Patrick and lock yourselves in the basement. Do you understand?" She looked as if she was in a daze.

"RYAN." Her head snapped up and she looked at me.

"Jacob what the fuck is going on?"

"I don't have time to explain right now. I need you to take Pat and lock yourselves in the basement. Do you understand?" I was in full Alpha mode right now and I needed her to listen.

She nodded.

"Don't come out until one of us comes to get you ok?"

She nodded again and grabbed her son taking off into the house. I phased and I heard her gasp before she retreated into the house. The 'newbies', Liam and Brent had phased when they heard Quil's howl and were on their way. I turned towards the fight in front of me. The first vampire had been taken care of and was currently in several twitching pieces. The other was surrounded by Quil, Brady, Seth and Collin and I saw red as I thought about it trying to get to Pat and Ryan. I let out a deep growl and stalked over to the surrounded vamp.

Within a flash I was on him, my teeth tearing into his marble flesh. His arm was first, followed by a leg. When the rest of the pack tried to join I gave them a warning growl not to get involved.

This fucker was mine.

I removed his other arm and pinned him down with my paws. His crazed blood red eyes stared back at me and he tried snapping at my muzzle. I let out a growl as my teeth raked across his neck slowly but surely ridding him of his head.

Once he was in pieces Brady phased back and lit a fire as we disposed of all the pieces of the two rogue vamps.

**RPOV**

As I took Patrick into the basement I was on autopilot. I could hear the growling and hissing and tearing of metal, even from the 'safe' confines of the basement. I must have been loosing it; finally going crazy after all the traumatic shit I went through seven years ago. I could have sworn, right before my very eyes, that all those men at my house had transformed into…I don't even know what they were, bears, wolves? What ever they were they were massive and I knew that my mind had officially left me when the pale person in the back of my yard started sparkling. Sparking! Like some sort of disco ball, clear as day.

I seriously was loosing it.

I winced as I heard more clashing and my mind floated back to Chechnya. The sounds that took place, loud shouting, gunfire, metal on metal. I was quickly fading into my memories when I felt Patrick squeeze my hand.

"Mommy I'm scared."

My heart melted and I pulled him onto my lap.

"It'll be ok sweetheart. Jacob is going to make it ok."

What on God's green Earth was I thinking? Jacob had just transformed into a giant beast and I was telling my son that he was going to make it better. For all I knew Jacob was the monster. A little nagging in the back of my mind told me else wise and I shuddered thinking about the blood red eyes of the sparkly man thing in my back yard. The red hadn't been what scared me the most; it was the pure inhuman craze coming from them. Somehow I knew that Jacob was the good guy.

I held tight to my son and we both jumped as a loud bang came from the top of the stairs. The door flew open off its hinges and I pushed Patrick behind me as a man stood at the top of the stairs. Within a blink of an eye he was down the stairs in front of us, and wouldn't you know it…his eyes were blood red.

**JPOV**

As we finished burning the parts of the vamps another disgusting smell crossed my nose.

"Fuck guys we got another one!"

No sooner were the words out of my mouth then the sneaky little fucker shot out of the woods and into the house.

"FUCK!" I roared as I phased and took off after the leech currently on its way to Ryan and Pat.

**RPOV**

The man was standing less than two feet away from us and I was backed against the basement wall, Patrick behind me.

"Give me the boy, human." The crazed man sneered at me. Saying I was scared would be the biggest understatement of the century, but this man was threatening my son, and nobody gets between my son and me.

"Fuck off." He laughed at me and before I knew what was happening he had me by the throat, effortlessly holding me in the air. I tried clawing desperately at his freezing hand, but it was like trying to claw at marble.

"You will not stand between me and my singer."

He looked over my shoulder at my son like Pat was some sort of, meal. Like he wanted to eat him or something.

"Pat…run!" I managed to choke out around my captor's hand.

Then the next thing I heard was an ear-piercing growl and I was dropped to the ground as a massive thing pounced on the psycho. I clambered to my son and pulled him protectively against me, curling around him to keep him shielded from what ever was happening in my basement. All I heard was a lot of hissing and growling and banging as what ever was fighting went through the drywall.

I peeked over my shoulder and what I saw both astounded and sickened me. A massive russet wolf was tearing limbs off of the man. But, much to my astonishment, there was no blood, no gore, no internal organs spilling out.

As someone who worked in active war zones, death was something I came in contact with often. No matter how someone died in war it was always messy, there was always blood. But this, it was as if this man was a porcelain doll and the wolf was simply removing its body parts.

I kept Patrick's eyes shielded, not wanting him to see any of what was going on. I watched as the wolf tore up that…thing…into bite size pieces and then stared flabbergasted as the wolf collapsed in on itself and there stood Jacob, panting and naked as the day he was born.

His eyes held a fierce determination as he looked at his kill. They softened, however, when he saw Patrick and I huddled together in our corner. He had a long gash down his right shoulder, but it didn't seem to concern him.

Seth and Quil came running down the stairs each in a pair of shorts, they threw a pair to Jacob which he pulled on.

"You two, take the limbs and go throw them in the fire. Now."

Jake's voice rang with authority as the guys silently obeyed, removing the body parts from my basement. I couldn't find my voice as I watched, my mind going a million miles a minute.

Jake took a step towards us and I automatically flinched back, causing a look of hurt to cross over his face.

"Ryan." His voice sounded desperate.

"Ryan please come upstairs with me and I'll explain everything. I promise I'm not going to hurt you or Pat. Please."

I nodded wordlessly as I got up, holding Pat tightly to me and ascending the stairs after Jacob.

When I got to the top of my stairs I noticed that there was a fire burning in my backyard, emitting some sort of purple smoke. My sliding door was shattered into a million pieces and my basement door was demolished. Well that's just fucking dandy isn't it?

I sat down on the couch with Patrick cradled to me on my lap. He was unusually quiet and I feared that he was going to be emotionally scarred from all that his young eyes just witnessed.

Jacob, Quil, Seth, Brady, Collin and two other boys that looked somewhat familiar sat down around the room, all of them in nothing but shorts. I couldn't help the fear that crept up my spine at the situation I was in and in an instant my military training came back full force. I looked at all of them, the shortest of which was at least 6'2" and 200lbs of pure muscle. My eyes scanned the possible exits and I calculated my chances of escaping. As if he could read my mind Jacob reached out and grabbed my hand, rubbing soothing circles across it.

"We aren't going to hurt you Ryan." I nodded and retracted my hand from his.

"Explain."

Jacob sighed and ran a hand through his hair. My eyes followed the movement of his muscles moving underneath his skin and they widened in surprise as the gash that had been gushing blood a minute ago was completely healed over. He followed my gaze and grinned a sort of forced lopsided grin at me.

"Super fast healing; just one of the perks of being one of us."

I swallowed thickly and forced out my next words.

"And what exactly would that be."

"Werewolves."

I nodded and within that second I think everything caught up with me. The battle, the giant wolves, the sparkly man, the fact that there was a werewolf shaped indent in the drywall of my basement. It all rushed to my head at once and then I did something I had never done in my entire time as a combat photojournalist…I fainted.


	8. Chapter 8

Oh my god so major kuddos to all my reviewers especially Evil-Angel-23! You guys made me want to pump out some more chapters quick!

Love you guys. Enjoy!

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**JPOV**

I watched as Ryan's eyes rolled back in her head and lunged forward in time to catch both her and Patrick. Patrick jumped off her lap and turned to look at his mother with worried eyes.

"Mommy?"

I leaned Ryan down on the couch to let her sleep off all the shit she had been through.

"It's alright little man. Mommy's just tired, so we need to let her sleep ok?"

He nodded and then turned to me. I was expecting to look at me in fear, after all he saw me morph into a horse size wolf, but he just looked at me in wonder.

"Mister Jacob. Are you really a werewolf? Because I saw a werewolf on the TV once and it is so cool and I can't believe that you and Uncle Seth are wolves! With big teeth and paws and everything!" It astounded me how he could say so many words in one breath.

The guys let out a little chuckle at his outburst, and I gave a little sigh, thankful that I didn't have to worry about corrupting the kid.

"Mister Jacob. Can you be a wolf again? Is everyone a wolf? How can I be a wolf?"

I laughed and picked up the little monster.

"Yup everyone here are wolves too, including Uncle Seth. I can be a wolf again if you make one big promise to me." He nodded enthusiastically.

"You have to promise me, you can never tell anyone about the wolves. Ok little man?"

"Not even Jeremy?"

"Nope not even Jeremy. If you tell anyone then the wolves are going to go away forever, and you don't want that right buddy?" His blue eyes got really wide before he vehemently shook his head back and forth.

"Oh no mister Jacob. I promise I wont tell anybody, not even Jeremy!"

"That's my little man." I gave him a high five and picked him up so he was sitting on my shoulders. I had to be careful; his head almost came to the ceiling. We both were laughing and I looked at the guys who were all giving me strange looks. I ignored it and turned to them.

"Alright. I promised the kid we would go wolf for him, who wants to go first?"

After each one of us phased for Patrick, much to his childish amazement, I went back inside while Seth and the guys continued to play around with him in the yard.

I sat by Ryan's head, my hand absentmindedly brushing back a strand of her blonde hair from her face. She had been out for a good thirty minutes and she stirred slightly under my touch before her eyes fluttered opened.

My breath caught slightly in my throat at her emerald colored eyes before I forced myself to breathe normally. My body's unintentional reactions to this woman were starting to worsen. The quickness of breath, heart racing, you know the usual sappy shit that usually leads to getting your heart ripped out of your chest.

"Jacob?" She looked at me confused and slowly sat up on the couch.

"What happened? Where's Patrick?" Her eyes nervously scanned the room and I practically saw the wheels turning in her head as she looked for her son.

"Pat's fine Ryan. He is playing with Seth and the guys in the back. And as for you, well you fainted."

A faint blush crept its way onto her face and she looked away from me.

"I don't faint." I tried my hardest to fight the smirk that was making its way onto my face at her stubbornness.

"It's ok Ry. No one cares. You had a lot happen to you in the past day."

This seemed to open the floodgates and I watched as the color drained from her face. She swallowed as she looked up at me through her thick lashes.

"You. You're a…werewolf?" She squeaked out the last word and I smiled and nodded my head.

"Yup. The guys and me. We aren't any different Ryan, and you don't have to be afraid of us. We don't hurt humans. We are protectors of sorts."

"Protectors of what exactly?"

"Well that man in your basement, and the others in the backyard, with the red eyes…they are, well were, vampires."

I waited with baited breath as she processed the information. She was sitting up on the couch and facing straightforward looking out the window. After a couple of deep breaths she turned to me.

"So you're a werewolf?"

I nodded.

"And those sparkly people were vampires?"

I nodded again.

"And you killed them? Because they eat people."

"Basically."

After a short moment of silence I watched intently as the corner of her mouth twitched up. The twitch spread to her lips and before I knew it she was smiling, and little sounds were making their way up her throat that sounded suspiciously like chuckles. The sounds grew before she let out a huge laugh causing my eyes to go wide.

Out of all the reactions I was expecting from her laughter was not one of them.

She continued her laughter and tried talking threw her laughing.

"So let me get this straight. You guys slay vampires? Like Buffy? You are like Jacob the vampire slayer!"

My jaw dropped before I let out a little growl.

"That is NOT what we are like."

"Oh my gosh you guys totally were like sexy outfits and stuff too don't you. Ahahaa." Her laughter increased as she clutched her sides. I huffed and glared down at her as she continued laughing.

"Ah I can just picture it! All of you guys in like leather pants running around with stakes and stuff! Ahaha that is just too funny!"

It so was NOT funny. My traitorous mouth turned upwards at the mental picture and I sat down next to her on the couch letting out a little chuckle of my own. I let her calm down and once her breathing was under control I turned to face her.

"I'll have you know, it's not like that at all. Leather doesn't go well with werewolf fur." We both chuckled and I pulled her into my side, glad when she didn't pull away.

"I'm the same that I was when you met me Ryan. Now you and Patrick just know our secret."  
"Oh my god Pat! Is he completely traumatized?" I chuckled a bit.

"Completely the opposite actually. He was absolutely thrilled. He thinks we are all some sort of movie super heroes. We phased for him and he totally loved it."

"Phased?"

"It's the term we use for when we shift into wolf form. We can do it whenever we want, unlike the movies we don't need a full moon. We are more shape shifters rather than werewolves."

"And you guys phase to kill vampires?"

"Well yea. Vampires are freakishly fast and strong and basically indestructible. We are the only things that are just as fast and strong. But unlike vamps, we are actually human. We have a heartbeat, we are living. They are dead and we were born to destroy them and protect all you weak humans." I winked at her and she laughed, which caused my heart to race again. She took my hand in hers and traced her fingers over my palm.

"Is the reason you are so warm because you're a wolf?"

"Yeah. We all run a toasty 108.3. We also have like ridiculously high metabolisms, hence the mass amounts of food. We don't gain weight, and as much as I wish to give myself credit for these muscles, its all part of the wolf thing too. We also don't age, which is why you thought I was a lot younger than I looked."

"So you're immortal?" I saw something cross her face that I couldn't place. "You never die?" She looked away from me.

"No. We are pretty much indestructible but we can be killed. And we only stop ageing when we phase. As soon as we stop phasing, we start ageing like normal humans again."

I could swear a look of relief passed over her face.

"Oh. So if you are already 36 how come you haven't stopped yet?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but I honestly didn't know what to say. How could I say that the reason I kept phasing was that I was hoping that my half-human half-vampire ex soul mate would come back and since she never aged I would have to keep phasing to live with her?

That was too much crazy for Ryan to handle in one sitting.

The thought of Renesmee caused the anger to start up inside me. Once again she was taking something away from me. I should be able to age like a normal person. To settle down with someone like Ryan and have kids and live a normal fucking life. But no…the bitch was across the entire world and she was still ripping at my heart.

Ryan must have noticed that my face hardened because her eyes softened and her hand came up to cup my cheek.

"Don't do that Jake. Don't go back into your shell, please. We don't have to talk about it okay?"

I took a deep breath and covered her hand that was resting on my cheek.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. So tell me everything else I need to know about werewolves."

I proceeded to give Ryan a lesson on werewolves, minus imprinting. That wasn't a can of worms that I could open right now.

After, we joined the guys out back. Seth and Brady were in their wolf form playing tag with Patrick. I felt Ryan tense besides me.

"Don't worry Ry. They wont hurt him." She nodded and I felt her hand on my arm so I turned to face her.

"Can…um can I see you?" She nodded to the wolves.

"Sure. I'm just going to go into the woods to phase so I don't ruin another pair of shorts ok?"

"Mommy! Look at all the wolves! Aren't they so cool mommy!" I heard Patrick rambling as I made my way to the woods. I stripped and phased, trotting back into the yard.

**RPOV**

I stood in shock as the massive russet wolf made its way towards me. It was huge. Much bigger than Seth and Brady, who were currently 'phased'. It was taking a bit for everything to sink into my brain. Who knew my life could handle any more crazy?

The massive wolf made its way towards me and I watched fascinated. It truly was majestic. It sat down in front of me and I looked into a pair of familiar onyx colored eyes.

"Jake?"

The wolf nodded its giant head and I smiled and reached out to run my hand through its fur. I scratched behind its ears and it let out a little purring sound from its chest causing me to laugh, finding it ironic.

Then it's slobbery wet tongue licked its way up the side of my face.

"God damn it Jake! You are such an asshole!"

I wiped the wolf slobber from my face and glared at him. He let out a yip and his giant tongue lolled out of his mouth in return, a smile planted on his muzzle.

I have to admit, when Jacob told me about everything, a part of me actually thought I was finally going crazy. That my twisted mind had come up with everything and I was finally headed to the looney bin.

But, the more I saw and the more he explained it to me, the more I accepted it, and the more it felt like _home_.

The more _Jacob_ felt like home.


	9. Chapter 9

Ok so I am so sorry about the lack of updating...I know I suck. This, as well as my other stories are now on .com/

I update there wayyyy more than here, and there are really cool pictures and stuff to go with the stories and I changed them a bit too so I would suggest looking at them there!

RPOV

Almost two months had gone by since the vampire incident and Jacob and his pack had become a part of our everyday lives. Everything had returned to normal, with the rare dose of supernatural. Pat was still in school, and Jacob was over when ever he wasn't patrolling or working. He basically worked his own hours because he was one of the best in his business.

Word had spread around the res of Patrick's heritage and people had been hesitant, yet accepting. It helped that Sue was an absolute godsend with Patrick and flaunted her only grandson whenever she had the chance to. I had met all of Jake's previous pack members and their respective mates, and I guess you could say that we were incorporated into their big family of sorts.

It was a Saturday night and Jake had brought Patrick and I to a bonfire down at the beach. I was perched on a log talking to Emily while Patrick was playing with the other kids.

I felt a pair of eyes on me and looked up to see Jake staring at me. He smiled when our eyes met and I smiled back, unconsciously tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. My cheeks flushed and I felt like a schoolgirl with a crush as I looked at his beautiful face.

"Earth to Ryan! Girl you aren't even listening to me." Emily chuckled and I blushed when I was caught.

"Sorry Em. What were you saying." She chuckled and gave me a knowing look.

"I was just seeing if Patrick wanted to come over for a play date with Jenna this week. She has been talking about him non stop."

"Sure, sure. I'm sure Pat would love that. I think he has a little crush on your youngest." We watched as Pat and Jenna were splashing each other with water and laughing.

"I think the feeling is mutual."

A loud bout of laughter came from the group of men standing by Jacob, and Emily and I looked over to see them all smiling and laughing.

"It's nice seeing Jacob laugh again."

"What'd you mean?"

"It's really not my place to tell you everything but, Jacob was in a pretty bad spot before you got here. He barely came out of his house and always had a scowl on his face. But ever since you showed up, well its like he's back to his old self again. He used to be so carefree, so young and joyful, nothing like my Sam, always serious and business." She laughed at the last part, her love for her husband shining through her words.

"So I guess we all owe you a big thank you."

"Oh please I didn't do anything."

Emily didn't respond, just gave me a knowing smile that made her look wise past her years and got up to walk over to Sam.

No sooner then she had gotten up, Brady sat down and threw his arm around me.

"Hey beautiful. What's poppin?" I laughed and punched his stomach, which only succeeded in hurting my hand. Man I needed to stop doing that. These wolves were like brick walls.

"What's up kid?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Who are you calling kid shorty? Besides I'm older than you are!"

"Yeah only by two years. And my mental capacity way exceeds yours. And who are you calling shorty? Not all of us can be freakishly tall werewolves."

"Yeah, we can't all be blessed with an awesome body like mine either can we?"

He smirked and flexed his arm at me. I barked out a laugh and reached up to ruffle his hair. Brady was a good guy and even though he was technically older than me, he didn't act like it. He was a total kid at heart.

Brady caught my hand and brought it to his lips giving the back of my hand a kiss. Heat made its way to my cheeks at the act, as I wasn't used to that kind of attention, even if the kid was just messing around.

"So Ryan I have a question for you."

"Uh oh."

"Oh stop it. So I was thinking…"

"And you didn't hurt yourself?"

"Damnit woman would you just let me ask it." I laughed and motioned for him to continue.

"Well I was wondering if maybe you wanted to like, I don't know, get some dinner some time or something?" He seemed nervous and was rubbing the back of his neck, a habit that Jake tended to do when he was nervous as well.

"Yeah Brady, just come over, you know I'll always cook for you guys."

"No. That's not what I meant. I meant like dinner dinner. Like just you and me."

"Like a date?" My mind reeled. Brady was asking me on a date.

"Yeah. Like a date. Emily or Sue could watch Patrick or he could come with us it doesn't matter to me."

Brady was asking me out. Jesus it had been years since someone asked me out. My eyes discreetly flicked to Jacob. What we had between us was…interesting. But as of now it was nothing romantic, and unfortunately it didn't seem like it would be, ever.

Jacob was very physical with me, but he was like that with everyone, I think. I probably just read too much into his little caresses and touches. He seemed content with our close friendship, and didn't seem interested in having it turn into anything romantic. Much to my disappointment.

"So uh what do you think?"

I realized I still hadn't given him an answer.

"Umm…"

"It can just be like a friends thing Ry. You don't have to like worry about it or anything. All I'm asking is dinner."

"Sure why not Brady. But just as friends right?" He nodded, a smile on his face.

"Yea you call the shots. Just as friends…and if we just happen to end up in bed at the end of the night then so be it." He winked at me.

Ahh and there was the old Brady back in action. I punched him again and winced as my hand took a beating. I needed to invest in a crowbar asap…ah they would probably just bend it…stupid indestructible werewolves.

"All I'm asking for is a chance Ry." Brady made my head spin with his mood changes. He went from joking to taking my hand in his warm one, lightly running his thumb across the top of it.

I looked at our joined hands and couldn't help but notice that they weren't quite as big or warm as Jake's.

"Sure Brady. I don't know if I'll be good company though. I haven't been on a date in years."

My head snapped up when a deep growl came from across the fire pit. My eyes met Jake's through the flames and I almost fell off the log I was sitting on at the deep anger in their depths. He flicked his eyes to Brady and I heard him gulp besides me as Jake's eyes turned feral.

At this point everyone had stopped what they were doing to watch this little charade. Jake silently stalked over to where Brady and I were still sitting, towering over us in pure Alpha mode. What the hell was up his ass?

"What's up Jake?" Brady cowered from his seat next to me. I almost wanted to laugh. Jake was being ridiculous, why? I had no idea.

"You tell me pup."

"Aw come on Jake with the 'pup' shit again? Aren't I old enough not to be referred to…"

"Enough." Brady's mouth snapped shut as his command and I glared at the man above me before getting up.

"What the hell is your problem Jake?"

He had the nerve to look taken aback for a second.

"You're going on a date with him?" He nodded towards Brady.

"Yea is that a problem?"

I stared him down. This being a difficult feat to accomplish due to the fact that he towered over me. Maybe I could get a step stool…

He glared at Brady once more before sighing and running his hand through his hair.

"No Ry. No problem," He murmured before turning and walking away.

"Wait Jacob!"

I ran after him, wanting to know what had him upset.

"Jake. Come on…Jesus can you stop walking please I'm trying to talk to you."

He spun around abruptly causing me to slam into his solid chest. By now we had walked far enough from the fire that we were out of hearing range.

"What the hell was that Jake?"

"I don't know what you are talking about." I tried catching his gaze but he refused to meet mine.

"Oh please don't give me that bullshit. Why were you such a jerk to Brady?"

His nostrils flared before he turned to meet my gaze.

"I'm his alpha. I can treat him how ever the fuck I want to."

I snapped my head back like I had been smacked at his words. I had never seen Jake like this and even though it did scare me a bit, my anger overwhelmed my fear.

"Just because you're his 'Alpha'" I made little air quotes with my fingers, no doubt throwing fuel on the fire, "Doesn't mean you have to act like a god damn animal! You are human you know!"

"Oh yeah? And what would you know about it Ryan? Brady is in my pack. You have no say in how I treat any of them!"

We were both yelling now, no doubt drawing the attention from the onlookers back at the fire.

"Oh so that just makes it okay to treat them like dirt? You really are something else Jacob Black. Why the hell did you even come over to Brady and I? Why do you give a rat's ass if he takes me out or not?"

His head snapped back and I could swear I saw a flash of something I couldn't place before he set his face back into a cold mask.

"I don't care. You are allowed to date who ever you please Ryan." He sneered my name at the end. "It makes no difference to me."

That fact hurt more than I would care to admit. It also confirmed that my feelings towards the man in front of me were completely one sided.

"Fine Jacob. Come talk to me when you've stopped being such an asshole."

I turned around and walked back to the fire with my head down and heard a ripping sound from behind me followed by a long howl as Jacob ran into the woods.

I silently made my way back to the fire and took my place on the log next to Brady.

"So when are we going on this date Brady?"

I plastered a smile on my face and turned to the man besides me.

"Uh are you still sure that is such a good idea?"

"Of course I mean why not? Unless you don't want to go with me anymore?"

"No no no. That's not it at all! Its just…well uh with Jake and everything…"

"Please. Jake is being an immature little jerk right now. I honestly don't know what his problem is. So how about you pick me up tomorrow around eight?"

"Um yea. Yea sure. That would be great Ryan."

Gone was the cocky self assured Brady. He looked almost nervous as he rubbed the back of his neck…Jake always did that when he was nervous. Ahhh stop thinking about him!

Sue offered to take Pat for the following night, saying that she hadn't spent quality time with her grandson in a while.

The next day I tried to keep myself busy and keep my thoughts off of Jacob Black. That infuriating, cocky, sexy, asshole of a man was plaguing my thoughts.

What the hell was wrong with him last night? Why did he get all defensive and upset when he learned that Brady was taking me out? He couldn't be jealous could he? No, that's impossible. We were just friends and he was hell bent on keeping it that way.

I straightened my shoulders and refused to let Jacob ruin my night with Brady.

I mean Brady was a great guy. Great personality, funny, sweet, caring, hellasexy (as were all of the pack), I mean we could work. He was great with Pat and always kept a smile on my face…but he just, he just wasn't Jake.

ARGHH! I pulled at my hair as he overtook my thoughts again. I HAD to stop comparing the two.  
I focused on getting ready. I hadn't been on a date since before Pat was born and I was actually kind of nervous. I know it was stupid, but hey I'm a girl. I threw on a casual white sundress and some strappy sandals, applied some makeup and fixed my hair as I waited for Brady to pick me up.

Sue had already taken Patrick hours ago, leaving me with my thoughts for hours upon end.

Finally the doorbell rang and I rushed to open it. I was surprised to see Brady actually wearing nice clothing. I was used to him in cut off jeans and nothing else. He had on a pair of kaki pants and a hunter green polo that fit his broad chest nicely. In all honestly the kid looked hot. He brought out a bouquet of daises from behind his back and held them out to me bashfully.

"I know that we are just doing this as friends, but uh, I figured you might like these. Isn't it like proper date edict to bring flowers or something?"

I laughed and took them from him before quickly putting them in some water in a vase.

"Thanks Brady. They are great. You ready to go?"

"Why yes my sexy lady I am." There he was, the Brady I knew and loved.

I laughed as I took his arm and he led me to his truck helping me to get in it, ever the gentleman.

"Man Brady, with manners like these I bet you have a lot of lady friends."

He laughed before wiggling his eyebrows at me.

"A man never kisses and tells Ryan."

Brady took me out to a great little Italian restaurant in Port Angeles and we both had a great time. He kept me laughing the entire night and I think we both realized that there would never be anything more than friendship between us. The kid was like my little brother. He agreed with my thoughts and said that he almost looked at me like his mom, talk about weird.

Regardless of our relationship not making it out of the friend stage, we still had an absolute blast on our "friend date".

He was driving me home telling me embarrassing stories about his past conquests (he broke his never kiss and tell rule).

"And then right as I'm bending her over the table, her fucking parents walk in!"

I burst out laughing at his story. I had quickly learned to accept his extremely crude personality and had even taken on a bit myself. As much as I loved my son, it was a nice change of pace to just hangout with a friend without a constant mothers worry. I knew Pat was in good hands with Sue.

We were still recovering from our laughter when we pulled up to my place.

"Well thank you for tonight Brady. I had an amazing time."

"Me too Ryry. We should make this like a weekly thing. It's nice having a girl friend that I don't have to worry about sleeping with. It's good to get the woman's perspective."

I laughed when he wiggled his eyebrows.

"Same here. I would really like that. As much as I love the pack in its entirety, it's a nice change of pace to get away from them every once in a while."

It started to downpour and ever the gentleman, he helped me out of the truck and held his jacket over my head as we ran up my front pathway to my porch. We were standing at my door, dripping wet, both smiling at our newfound friendship.

His ears perked up and he quickly looked towards the woods, turning his head away from me. I just figured his wolf hearing picked up some sort of animal or something. He turned back to me with a smirk on his face.

"Well. Goodnight Ryan."

He shocked me by leaning down and capturing my lips with his. It was a chaste friendly kiss, but it still caught me off guard. It was over almost as soon as it began and he kissed me on the cheek before flashing me a devious smile before heading back towards his truck.

I just shook my head at him. He really was a piece of work. I placed my key in the door and opened it, stepping inside. I flipped on the hall light and made my way to the kitchen for a glass of water. I switched on the kitchen light and let out a startled scream as I saw Jacob Black standing shirtless and dripping wet in my kitchen.


	10. Chapter 10

Hello all! Thanks sooooo much to my generous reviewers! You all rock! This, as well as my other stories, are now on Jacobblack-n-pack so go check em out! There are cool character pics and stuff!

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**Brady POV**

I had asked Ryan out knowing full well what the repercussions of my actions would be. To say that Jake was pissed was the understatement of the century. But hey I thought Ryan was a pretty kick ass woman and I wanted to see if maybe there would be some sort of spark.

Not to mention that maybe it would give my Alpha a swift kick in the ass to tell her how he feels before someone else steals her out from under his nose.

I had an amazing time with her on our pseudo date and it was nice to know that I had a woman friend who I wasn't sexually attracted to.

Now don't get me wrong, Ryan is HOT. Her curvy body, gorgeous eyes and massive amounts of curly blonde hair would do it for me any day of the week. But this was Ryan we were talking about, she was like another mother figure to the pack. She saw me as her kid and I saw her as my momma, not my suga momma either. It would just be way too weird.

Not to mention that everyone in LaPush knew that our Alpha had a little thing for miss Ryan. Too bad Jake couldn't even realize it for himself, and Ryan was too dense to notice it either…idiots.

When I picked her up I could hear Jake in the woods around her house. What a fucking bum. If he weren't my Alpha I would seriously kick his ass. I could see through the trees as he followed and then came to a screeching halt at the boarder line.

Jeeze Jake, why don't you play the stalker card a little more, I don't think you are creepy enough.

He must have waited at the border because he followed my truck, again, as I drove her home.

When we got back onto her porch we were both soaking wet and laughing. I heard a growl come from the woods and I turned to see Jake trying to hide in the dense forest. I smirked at him before turning back to Ryan and giving her a chaste kiss on the lips. I heard the snarl from the woods and smirked to myself as I made my way back to my truck.

Take that almighty Alpha.

Maybe he would finally wake up and smell the god damn hot coffee before he turned into a total stalker.

I heard another growl come from the woods.

Or maybe not.

**JPOV**

After the bonfire I phased and ran home, barely making it through the door before snatching up my bottle of jack off the counter.

What the hell was wrong with me?

I shouldn't give a shit if Ryan went out on a date. I shouldn't care that it was with Brady, my pack mate. I shouldn't get angry at the thought of him holding her hand at the bonfire. But I was.

I was furious.

The wolf inside me clawed at my ribcage chanting 'mine' in my head over and over again, and for the first time in almost 18 years I had trouble controlling my phasing. My body shook as I thought about Brady's hands on her. I let out a snarl and put the bottle back to my lips, taking gulps that would knock out a regular human.

Fuck it burned so good.

I continued to down the bottle until the alcohol made its self known, effectively knocking me out.

I woke up the next day only a little hungover, perks of being a werewolf, and phased outside, planning on patrolling until tonight. The day dragged on and on and finally once the sun started to set I made my way over.

I ran through the woods until I came to the familiar house. I could hear Ryan getting ready inside and let out a little growl as Brady pulled up in his truck. The kid got out and shot me a glare. I watched as Ryan came out of the house in a white sundress and my heart sped up a little. She looked gorgeous.

I followed them to the border like the creep that I was and then ran patrol waiting for them to come back.

God I was pathetic.

It seemed like I paced circles for hours waiting for them to return. What the fuck was I doing? Hiding in the woods like a total stalker, if Ryan ever found out she would cut my balls off.

I watched as Brady's truck pulled up in the downpour, I didn't care that it was raining to the point my fur was sticking to me. Brady helped Ryan out of the truck and held his jacket over her head as they ran to the porch. She was soaking wet by the time they made it and they were both laughing. I let out a little growl as her eyes lit up from her laughter.

I should be the one that makes her laugh, not fucking Brady.

The little fucker turned and glared at me before shooting me a shit-eating smirk. My blood boiled as he leaned down and kissed Ryan. I started trembling in my wolf form as a snarl ripped its way out of my chest.

Mine.

He said goodbye and shot me a smirk as he made his way to his truck.

That little fuck.

I ran around to the back porch, phased, and slipped my shorts on. I slid open the sliding back door that Ryan always forgot to lock and made my way into the kitchen ready to give her the third degree. Ready to tell her why Brady wasn't good for her, and why she should choose me instead. I wanted to demand to know why she agreed to go out with him when we had something so indescribable in between us.

Well of course she agreed you idiot! You never fucking told her you pansy ass bitch. What did you just think someone as gorgeous as her was just going to stay single forever?

I pleasantly told my inner dialogue to fuck off as I stood there dripping water all over her kitchen floor. I heard her come into the room and she screamed as she turned on the light and saw me.

Whatever notion I had thought of about reprimanding her about her date, or begging to choose me instead went flying out the window as I took in sight of her body.

My gaze raked across her delectable body. Her dress was clinging to her body like a second skin, completely see through from the rain. I growled when I saw her perky nipples straining through the translucent fabric. Any coherent thought went flying out of my brain as all my blood rushed below the waist. I felt my wolf clawing, demanding to make her mine.

Her eyes widened as I stalked towards her like a predator to its prey.

"Jacob what are you-" I cut her off as I grabbed the back of her head and crashed my lips to hers. I moaned into her mouth at the taste of her soft lips and when she gasped I took the opportunity to sneak my tongue into her mouth, the movements easily coming back to me.

God it had been so long, too long, since my body responded like this to a woman.

At first she fought against me, her tiny hands beating on my chest as she struggled to get out of my grasp. No doubt she was still pissed at me.

But that moment, that one moment when she finally gave in and started kissing back, well there was nothing in my life to compare to the euphoria I felt in that moment…not even imprinting.

I growled as her hands came up to thread themselves through my hair as her tongue battled with mine for dominance. My hands made their way from the back of her neck down past her shoulders and breasts to rest on her hips, pulling them forcefully against mine. We both moaned as she pressed herself against my hard on.

Without warning I grabbed her by the hips and placed her on the kitchen counter, putting us more at the same height. She opened up her legs allowing me to step between them before wrapping them around my waist, causing my dick to line up perfectly with her hot core.

"Fuck, you smell so good Ry."

My mind went crazy as I could feel her heat through the fabric of her panties and my shorts and I ground myself into her causing her to gasp and throw her head back. I did it again reveling at the sensations that shot through my body. If I didn't get control of myself this would be over before it could even begin.

I continued to grind myself into her heat while one of my hands trailed from her hip past her stomach to her dress covered breast.

I found myself shaking, not out of the need to phase, but rather from nerves. It had been a long time since I did this and I felt like an inexperienced high school kid again as my hand groped her breast. I could feel her hard nipple and I caught her moan in my mouth as I pinched it.

I picked up my pace against her, not giving a shit that we were both fully clothed and dry humping each other like a bunch of freshman at a high school dance, or the fact that I was ridiculously close to letting one go in my shorts.

She wrenched her lips away from mind and grinded herself onto my body as her nails scratched down my naked back. I dove in, placing opened mouth kissing and little love bites on any part of open skin I could find.

"Fuck Jake. I'm so close."

Her breathing was picking up and I felt myself getting closer to my release. I quickly pulled her dress down, exposing one of her perfect flushed breasts before engulfing her nipple in my mouth and moaning.

"Oh Fuck!"

Her head was thrown back as she shamelessly grinded herself onto me. I was so close. So close to getting a release that my body so desperately needed.

My release came quickly when her hand reached in between us and grabbed me through my shorts. I cried out into her chest and bit down on her nipple causing her to shriek and fall over the edge with me. I jerked my hips as I rode out my orgasm and my hand found her core, lightly stroking over her panties to ensure hers was drawn out as well.

I leaned my head on her shoulder as we both tried to regain control of our bodies. I can't believe we just did THAT…on her kitchen counter nonetheless.

Then I remembered why I came storming into her kitchen in the first place. She had been on a date with Brady, and she had let him kiss her.

I took a step back as I started trembling, thinking of Brady's hands on her the way mine had just been. She looked up at me confused.

"What's wrong?"

"How was your date?" I sneered at her. Fire flashed through her eyes and she straightened her shoulders.

"I cant believe after, after THAT…that you are going to ask me about my date. What the fuck is wrong with you Jake? I wouldn't even have even classified Brady and my night as a date."

"Well you certainly weren't thinking that when you let him kiss you."

"I have no idea why he…whoa whoa whoa, how did you know he kissed me?" Recognition flittered across her face and she went from confused to absolutely furious.

"You were spying on me!" It came out more as a yelled statement rather than a question. She readjusted her dress, covering herself, jumped down from the counter and stalked her way over to me poking me in the chest with her finger.

"What right do you have to do that!"

Each word was accompanied with another poke as she backed me up into a wall and my eyes widened.

"You have some god damn nerve Jacob Black. I have been interested in you for months and you do nothing about it but when I go out with another guy, another guy FRIEND, you follow me and spy on me from the woods!" She ran her hand through her hair frustrated.

"And then, you break into my house! Scare the living shit out of me and then proceed to dry hump me in my own kitchen before turning all crazy Jake on me and ridiculing me about my night out with a friend and one friendly kiss!" She glared at me and it actually scared me a bit.

"You are ridiculous! Just…absolutely ridiculous! I'm leaving!" She turned and walked a few paces before turning back to me.

"No no no you know what? This is MY house. You leave. Come talk to me when you have sorted through your emotions enough to actually act like a normal human being. I can't handle this Jekyll and Hyde shit anymore."

She turned away from me and stormed up the stairs. I winced when I heard her door slam shut and sighed as I ran a hand through my hair.

Shit. I had fucked up…big time.

Ryan, of course, was one hundred percent right. I had been going through emotions like underwear recently…and well that was a figure of speech because I didn't really wear underwear.

That woman just made my mind crazy. I never knew what to feel around her and that scared the shit out of me. And how do I deal with my crazy emotions? Well I do the stupidest thing imaginable and take it out on her. God I am an idiot.

I heard muffled thuds coming from upstairs and the occasional grunt. What the hell was she doing now?

I silently made my way up the stairs and was shocked to see Ryan beating the living shit out of a punching bag in the corner of her room. She had changed into shorts and a tshirt and was rotating between punching and kicking the bag.

Each punch was accompanied by a different word; asshole, jackass, and idiot were the ones that were found to be repeated.

She had already developed a thin layer of sweat and I watched as her muscles flexed every time she landed another punch.

For some reason her beating the shit out of that bag was turning me on…Jeeze get your mind out of the gutter you horny asshole…talk about the worst time for you to get a boner, you are, literally, in the doghouse.

I walked up to her and placed my hand on her shoulder causing her to turn and throw a left hook right at my face. Luckily my wolf speed decided to kick in and I caught her fist right before it came in contact with my face. Now don't get me wrong, I think I deserved a good shot to the face, but it would hurt her more than me and I didn't need something else for her to hold against me.

My catching of her fist just succeeded on pissing her off more as she tried to land as many punches as she could against me. She struggled even more as I pulled her to me, wrapping my arms around her and encasing her in an all out body hug, rendering her immobile. I squeezed her tight and rubbed her lower back as she tried in vain to escape my embrace. I held her tighter and placed my lips next to her ear.

"I'm so sorry Ry. I'm such a fucking idiot."

Her struggling stopped as she sagged into me.

"I can't take this shit Jacob. You can't just yank me around like that. Kissing me one minute and yelling at me the next. It's not fair."

"You're right it's not. I'm sorry that I put you through that I just- you stir up feelings in me that have been dormant for close to a decade and I don't know what to do with them. You completely rattle my brain Ryan, and in all honestly it scares the hell out of me. It scares me how angry I got when I thought about Brady kissing you, his hands on you like mine were. I wanted to rip his fucking head off."

She sighed and I let her pull back from my embrace a little allowing her to look up at me. Once again the sight of her sapphire eyes made my breath catch in my throat. She chuckled a little at me.

"Jacob, Brady and I are friends, nothing more. As for that kiss it was completely out of left field. I think that maybe he was trying to provoke you. I mean he did look at the woods before hand, and since you were stalking me he probably knew you were there."

She was right, that little shit had given me the most shit eating grin right before he kissed her. What a little asshole.

"I wouldn't call it stalking, more like obsessively shadowing." She smiled a little at my joke.

"Is it going to be like this all the time Jake? Because I can't take being pulled around like some sort of rag doll while you sort out your emotions. I don't know about you, but what happened in the kitchen actually meant something to me."

She blushed and looked down. I was having none of that, I hooked my finger under her chin and made her meet my gaze.

"And you think it didn't mean anything to me? Listen Ry, I am damaged goods and I'm not saying that this is going to be all sunshine and roses because its not. I have been really messed up for the past ten years and you are causing me to feel things I thought were extinct from my body and mind. For once I don't know what to do with my emotions. I am so used to just merely going through life the same repetitive process day in and day out, just trying to numb the pain. But you were a curveball I never expected to be thrown and I am just trying to find the right way to bat it out of the park."

She quirked an eyebrow at me.

"Are you saying you want to score with me Jacob?"

My mouth dropped open before laughing. She shook her head and leaned it against my chest.

"I never really was good with words."

"Jacob I understand what you are saying, but what just happened back there, it can't happen again. I've been through enough, my heart can't take that kind of beating."

"I know Ryan and I am trying, I really am. You make me feel things I never thought I'd feel again and I'm scared I'm going to fuck it up."

"Jacob no one is perfect, and I'm certainly not asking you to be, I'm just asking that you let me know what is going on with you okay?"

Oh shit. That means telling Ryan about her. No, no, there was no way I could open that can of worms just yet.

"I'll try my best. I was never really the emotional type."

She chuckled against my chest and shook her head.

"What ever you say mister manly man. So what exactly are we going to do with this?"

"I want to do this Ry. As much as I thoroughly enjoyed what went on in the kitchen I want to slow it down a bit and take it at a normal pace. Can I take you out on a date?"

She blushed and nodded her head.

"Of course you can Jacob. Are you sure you are okay with Patrick and everything? You need to understand that he is my number one priority in life and nothing comes before he does. Even if it happens to be a certain sexy Alpha werewolf."

Haha, Ryan thinks I'm sexy!

"Ryan of course I know that Pat comes first. I would never put myself between you two. Speaking of which, where is the little monster?"

"He is staying at Sue's for the night."

"Mmm," I brushed my nose across the creamy expanse of her neck, inhaling her delicious scent. "So when should I take you on our date?" She giggled a little before answering.

"Man I haven't been asked out in almost eight years and now within the course of 48 hours I get asked out twice. What am I, some sort of werewolf magnet?"

I let out a playful growl and nipped her skin with my teeth.

"You are my werewolf magnet. No one else's."

"Ooo I don't know if I can be with such a possessive guy Jacob."

She kidded with me before reaching up and placing a kiss on the underside of my jaw. I moaned and pressed my hips into her, and that's when I felt it, the wet spot on the inside of my jeans from earlier.

"Shit. Um well this is really embarrassing, but you don't happen to have any like extra large shorts do you? I kind of need a change."

She looked confused for a minute before understanding flashed across her face and she blushed down to the roots of her hair.

"Um yea I think one of the guys left some extras here incase they phased with theirs on."

She rummaged around through her drawers before pulling out a pair of long athletic shorts and handing them to me.

"Um you can change and uh…clean up in the bathroom."

I laughed and placed a kiss on the top of her head before I headed towards the bathroom. After cleaning up my junk and changing shorts I made my way back into her room. She had changed into a pair of sleep shorts and a tank top.

"Jacob I know you said that you wanted to do this normally but would you mind staying the night? It's weird having the house to myself."

"Of course. Where do you want me to sleep?"

"Um, would you mind sleeping with me? Oh god I didn't mean it like that…well its just…I mean…"

She smacked me on the arm as I laughed at her before crawling into bed next to her. I wrapped my arms around her waste and placed a kiss on her shoulder before whispering goodnight.

And once again that feeling of wholeness swept through me as I drifted off to sleep.


End file.
